title: Bimodal benefits on objective and subjective outcomes for adult cochlear implant users.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Given that only a few studies have focused on the bimodal benefits on objective and subjective outcomes and emphasized the importance of individual data, the present study aimed to measure the bimodal benefits on the objective and subjective outcomes for adults with cochlear implant.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fourteen listeners with bimodal devices were tested on the localization and recognition abilities using environmental sounds, 1-talker, and 2-talker speech materials. The localization ability was measured through an 8-loudspeaker array. For the recognition measures, listeners were asked to repeat the sentences or say the environmental sounds the listeners heard. As a subjective questionnaire, three domains of Korean-version of Speech, Spatial, Qualities of Hearing scale (K-SSQ) were used to explore any relationships between objective and subjective outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on the group-mean data, the bimodal hearing enhanced both localization and recognition regardless of test material. However, the inter- and intra-subject variability appeared to be large across test materials for both localization and recognition abilities. Correlation analyses revealed that the relationships were not always consistent between the objective outcomes and the subjective self-reports with bimodal devices.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, this study supports significant bimodal advantages on localization and recognition measures, yet the large individual variability in bimodal benefits should be considered carefully for the clinical assessment as well as counseling. The discrepant relations between objective and subjective results suggest that the bimodal benefits in traditional localization or recognition measures might not necessarily correspond to the self-reported subjective advantages in everyday listening environments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Hye
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Heo
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology, Hallym University of Graduate Studies, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae-Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Won-Sang
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Bimodal hearing; Cochlear implant; Hearing aid