AUTHOR=Olze Heidi , Ketterer Manuel Christoph , Péus Dominik , Häußler Sophia Marie , Hildebrandt Lynn , Gräbel Stefan , Szczepek Agnieszka J. 

TITLE=Effects of auditory rehabilitation with cochlear implant on tinnitus prevalence and distress, health-related quality of life, subjective hearing and psychological comorbidities: Comparative analysis of patients with asymmetric hearing loss (AHL), double-sided (bilateral) deafness (DSD), and single-sided (unilateral) deafness (SSD)

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2022.1089610

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2022.1089610

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=Auditory rehabilitation with a cochlear implant (CI), in many cases, positively impacts tinnitus. However, it is unclear if the tinnitus-related benefit of CI is equal for patients with various indications for CI. Therefore, this study aimed to determine differences in tinnitus, health-related quality of life, subjective hearing, perceived stress, and psychological comorbidities between patients diagnosed with asymmetric hearing loss (AHL), single-sided deafness (SSD), and double-sided deafness (DSD) before and six months after cochlear implantation. One hundred-one CI candidates were included in this prospective study (39 AHL patients, 23 DSD patients, and 39 SSD patients). After implantation, the degree of tinnitus-induced distress measured with the Tinnitus Questionnaire (TQ) decreased significantly in all three groups with no differences between the groups before CI but significantly lower tinnitus-induced emotional distress in the DSD than in the SSD group six months after. Differences between the groups before CI regarding the quality of life, subjective hearing, perceived stress, and psychological comorbidities were no longer present six months after cochlear implantation. However, significant correlations between anxiety, depression, and TQ in AHL and SSD patients were present before and after CI. Our results suggest a need for personalized psychological counseling during the auditory rehabilitation process, focusing on anxiety and depressive symptoms for SSD and AHL patients.