Objective: Access to postoperative aural rehabilitation limits cochlear implant (CI) penetration to the candidate population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of remote CI programming and aural rehabilitation via telehealth.
Study design and setting: Retrospective study of one cochlear implant center.
Patients and intervention: Patients undergoing cochlear implantation from 2015 to 2018 undergoing remote programming as part of routine audiologic follow up.
Main outcome measures: AzBio scores, impedances, comfort and threshold levels, and responses to the International Outcome Inventory for Hearing Aids questionnaire modified for CIs (IOI-CI).
Results: A total of 22 CIs in 20 patients were included during the study period. Threshold, comfort, and impedance levels were readily obtained via telehealth and were not significantly different between telehealth and live sessions. AzBio scores and warble tone pure tone averages were also similar and acceptable in both session modalities. Based on IOI-CI scores, patients were very satisfied with their hearing outcomes.
Conclusions: Using telemedicine, reliable measurements were readily obtained and hearing outcomes after remote programming were comparable to those expected after in-person programming sessions. Patients were overall satisfied with their remote programming sessions. Telehealth is a cost-effective and safe way to deliver post-CI audiologic care, particularly to patients with limited mobility or those in remote locations.