title: [Listening effort with cochlear implants: Unilateral versus bilateral use].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The influence of bilateral cochlear implants (CI) and unilateral CI on the self-reported listening effort in standardized situations is being assessed.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample consisted of 34 bilateral and 38 unilateral adult CI users. Unilateral CI users had at least severe hearing loss in the non-implanted ear and had been fitted with a hearing aid. The listening effort has been defined as a subjectively perceived effort in understanding a speaker. Patients were administered a customized questionnaire containing nine examples of listening situations with different demands. The listening effort expended in each situation had to be rated on a six-step scale. Answers were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA, including the factors "level of background noise," "listening duration," and the covariates "patient age" and "time since CI implantation."
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only the factors "level of background noise" and "listening duration" were significant (p = 0.024 and p = 0.001 respectively). Unilateral versus bilateral CI was not significant (p = 0.17). Nevertheless, bilateral CI users reported a lower degree of listening effort than unilateral users in all of the nine situations asked about in the questionnaire (binomial test: p = 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We conclude that bilateral CI use has some effect on reducing listening effort, but compared with unilateral use the effect is possibly not very great.
authors.affiliation: Universitätsklinik für Hals-, Nasen- und Ohrenheilkunde, Universitätsklinikum St. Pölten; Karl Landsteiner Privatuniversität für Gesundheitswissenschaften, Propst Führer-Str. 4, 3100, St. Pölten, Österreich, johannes.schnabl@stpoelten.lknoe.at.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schnabl
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bumann
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rehbein
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Seidler
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wolf-Magele
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sprinzl
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Windfuhr
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Weichbold
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D005260:Female; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006312:Hearing Loss, Bilateral / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013017:Sound Localization; D013067:Speech Perception; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult