Table 1.

Study eligibility criteria for recruitment of participants

Inclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria

Adults (persons≥18 years of age). Postlingual severe-profound SNHL Candidate for cochlear implantation according to UK criteria specified by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2009) or cochlear implant recipient.57 Proficient readers/writers of English. Capacity to give informed consent. No additional medical conditions precluding the participant’s ability to self-complete the questionnaires

Prelingual severe-to-profound SNHL (ie, when the onset of the hearing loss can reasonably be estimated to have occurred before age 3, in both ears) and the individual’s primary mode of communication is manual (eg, British Sign Language).

SNHL, sensorineural hearing loss.