Table 1.
Participant characteristics
| Demographic factorsa | |
| Age, years, mean (SD) | |
| At implantation | 73.6 (5.82) |
| At follow-up testing | 76.6 (5.82) |
| Marital status, n (%) | |
| Married | 1 (14.3%) |
| Widow | 3 (42.8%) |
| Unmarried | 2 (28.6%) |
| Divorced | 1 (14.3%) |
| Highest education, n (%) | |
| College | 4 (57.1%) |
| Advanced degree | 3 (42.9%) |
| Hearing loss | |
| Length of severe SNHL, years, mean (range)b | 29 (8–53) |
| Medical comorbidities, n (%) | |
| Hypertension | 1 (14.3%) |
| Thyroid disease | 6 (85.7%) |
| Coronary artery disease | 1 (14.3%) |
| Mitral valve prolapse | 1 (14.3%) |
| Hypercholesterolemia | 1 (14.3%) |
| Chronic hepatitis C | 1 (14.3%) |
| Breast cancer | 4 (57.1%) |
| Macular degeneration | 1 (14.3%) |
| Immediate family history of dementia | 2 (28.6%) |
| Technical and design factors | |
| Implant manufacturer, n (%) | |
| Cochlear Americas | 6 (85.7%) |
| Advanced Bionics | 1 (14.3%) |
| Ear implanted, n (%) | |
| Right | 6 (85.7%) |
| Left | 1 (14.3%) |
| Length of follow-up, years, mean (SD, range) | 3.7 (2.0–4.1) |
Notes:
100% of patients were right-handed women and retired.
The range is given instead of the SD for the variable of “Length of severe SNHL” for two reasons. First, this is a variable with highly skewed distribution. The range is used to clarify the extent of the spread and identify the upper and lower bounds. Second, while we had precise and accurate dates of implantation, most participants reporting the age of onset of severe SNHL were only able to identify the approximate decade of onset (30s, 40s, 50s, etc). The patient with the earliest onset and the patient with the latest onset were able to identify the approximate calendar year of onset allowing us to estimate a range.
Abbreviations: SD, standard deviation; SNHL, sensorineural hearing loss.