Tinnitus Burden Predicts Domain-Specific Quality of Life After Cochlear Implantation.

Authors

Sophia Chehade, Tamara Mijovic, Joe Saliba, Don Luong Nguyen, Rebecca Vanderelst, François Prévost, Cléo Audet-Halde, Marjolaine Couture, Valérie Boutin, Emily Kay-Rivest

Published in

Otology & neurotology : official publication of the American Otological Society, American Neurotology Society [and] European Academy of Otology and Neurotology. Aug 31, 2026. Epub Aug 31, 2026.

Abstract

To evaluate the longitudinal association between tinnitus burden and domain-specific cochlear implant-related quality of life in adult cochlear implant recipients.
Retrospective chart review.
Single academic tertiary-care center.
One hundred eighty-one adult cochlear implant recipients (aged 19-91 y; mean 61.4±17.5).
Quality of life questionnaires.
Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and Cochlear Implant Quality of Life instruments (CIQOL-35 Profile and CIQOL-10 Global) were assessed preoperatively and at 6 and 12 months postoperatively.
Following implantation, tinnitus severity decreased and CI-specific quality of life improved across all CIQOL domains by 6 months and remained stable at 12 months. In adjusted linear mixed-effects models (n=128), greater persistent tinnitus burden was independently associated with poorer CI-specific quality of life across multiple domains, including Emotional, Social, Entertainment, Communication, Listening Effort, and Global Functioning. The strongest association was observed in the Emotional domain (β=-2.17 per 10-point increase in THI). These findings remained directionally consistent in sensitivity analyses adjusting for baseline clinical characteristics and postoperative speech performance.
Cochlear implantation improves both tinnitus severity and cochlear implant-specific quality of life. However, persistent tinnitus burden remains independently associated with poorer patient-reported outcomes across multiple domains, particularly in emotional functioning.

PMID:
42671881
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 01 Sep 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.