Does music perception have an impact on quality of life following cochlear implantation?

Abstract

Fifty-two patients answered the questionnaires. Listening habits (music enjoyment and hours spent listening to music per week) significantly decreased following implantation when compared with the same parameters before deafness. Nevertheless, 52% of the patients enjoyed music post implantation. The quality of musical sound was rated >50 (0-100 scale) for the adjective pairs 'like-dislike', 'sounds like music-doesn't sound like music' and 'natural-mechanical' by most users. Med-el device users obtained better scores in the adjective pair 'sounds like music-doesn't sound like music' than Cochlear device users. Recipients rating higher scores for quality of sound enjoyed music post implantation and had higher total GBI scores than those rating lower scores.