title: Rates of long-term cochlear implant use in children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the rate of long-term cochlear implant (CI) use in children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Consecutive case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  Tertiary referral center.
  
  
  METHODS
  Approximately 474 patients younger than 18 years who received a first CI from 1999 to 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cochlear implantation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Regular CI use, defined as using the CI for 8 hours or greater per day.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We successfully contacted and obtained follow-up data on 402 patients (85%) via email, telephone, and postal survey. The rate of regular CI use was 93.2% (95% CI, 90.0-95.4) at 5 years postimplantation and 87.7% (95% CI, 82.9-91.3) at 10 years postimplantation. The mean number of hours of use per day was 12.0 hours (SD, 4.1 h). Cox proportional hazard regression analysis demonstrated a linear association between the age at implantation and the risk of discontinuing regular CI use. Rates of CI discontinuation increased by 18.2% per year of age at implantation (95% CI, 7.2%-30.4%). Reported reasons for CI use less than 8 hours per day include poor hearing benefit (53.2%), social pressure (21.3%), and recurrent displacement of the transmitter coil (17.0%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High rates of regular CI use are sustained after childhood implantation, and younger age at implantation is associated with a higher rate of continued device usage.
authors: *Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; †Center on Aging and Health, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions; ‡Department of Biostatistics, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland; §Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California; and ∥Departments of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Geriatric Medicine, Mental Health and Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.
authors: Kevin James
authors: KJ
authors: Contrera
authors: Janet Seolin
authors: JS
authors: Choi
authors: Caitlin Rebecca
authors: CR
authors: Blake
authors: Joshua Francis
authors: JF
authors: Betz
authors: John Kim
authors: JK
authors: Niparko
authors: Frank R
authors: FR
authors: Lin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D003054:Cochlear Implants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003638:Deafness / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome