Factors influencing rehabilitation outcomes in prelingually deafened late implanted cochlear implant users and development of a nomogram

Objectives: Our study aimed to identify potential factors that influence rehabilitation outcomes in late-implanted adolescents and adults with prelingual deafness and attempted to develop a reliable nomogram. Design: This retrospective study included 120 subjects less than 30 years of age who had received cochlear implantation at a single medical center. The Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP) scale was used to evaluate the rehabilitation outcomes. A nomogram was constructed using the R and EmpowerStats software. Results: Univariate analysis indicated higher rates of auditory performance improvement in younger aged subjects. Residual hearing and regular and longer implant use were more common among subjects showing auditory performance improvement. Multivariate analysis identified residual hearing (Hazard Ratio, 6.11; 95% Confidence Interval, 1.83-20.41; P<0.01), age at implantation (Hazard Ratio, 0.31; 95% Confidence Interval, 0.14-0.83; P=0.02) and regular CI use (Hazard Ratio, 7.79; 95% Confidence Interval, 2.50-24.20; P<0.01) as independent predictors for auditory performance improvement. The nomogram’s predictive performance was satisfactory as verified by the calibration curve and Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Conclusions: We demonstrated that residual hearing, younger age, and regular CI use were associated with auditory performance improvement in this cochlear implant user population. Our nomogram model demonstrated satisfactory predictive performance for this population.