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Business of Medicine

(A005) Health Utility and Quality of Life Analysis in Children with Bilateral Cochlear Implantation

Monday, October 13, 2025
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM EDT
Location: OTO EXPO, Posters
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    Presenting Author(s)

  • Pei-Hsuan Lin, MD

    Attending Physician
    National Taiwan University Hospital
    Taipei City, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)

    • Co-Author(s)

  • YC

    Yu-Ju Chiang, MD

    National Taiwan University Hospital
    Taipei City, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)

  • TF

    Te-Yung Fang, MD

    Attending Physician
    Cathay General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
    Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)

  • HW

    Han Wang, n/a

    National Taiwan University Hospital
    Taipei City, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)

  • YK

    Yu Ko, PhD

    Taipei Medical University
    Taipei City, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)

  • TL

    Tien-Chen Liu, MD, PhD

    National Taiwan University Hospital
    Taipei City, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)

    • Senior Author(s)

  • CW

    Chen-Chi Wu, MD, PhD

    National Taiwan University Hospital
    Taipei City, Taipei, Taiwan (Republic of China)

    • Co-Author(s)

  • Pa-Chun Wang, MD, PhD

    Professor
    Cathay General Hospital
    Taipei, Taipei, United States

Disclosure(s):
Pei-Hsuan Lin, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.
Te-Yung Fang, MD: No relevant relationships to disclose.


Introduction: Cochlear implantation has been the standard of care for children with severe to profound sensorineural hearing impairment (SNHI) for the past 20 years. While bilateral cochlear implants (CIs) are known to improve sound localization and speech perception in noise compared to unilateral CI, their impact on health utility and quality of life (QoL) has been less explored. This study aims to evaluate the effect of bilateral CIs on health utility and QoL in children with severe to profound SNHI.

Methods: From August 2021 to June 2022, 154 children with severe to profound SNHI and 67 children with normal hearing, all under 18 years, were enrolled. Subjects were grouped according to their assistive devices: (a) HA_HA (bilateral hearing aids, n=66), (b) CI_HA (unilateral CI, n=53), (c) CI_CI (bilateral CIs, n=35), and (d) NH (normal hearing, n=67). Questionnaires including EuroQoL Five Dimensions Questionnaire (EQ-5D), Mandarin Children with Cochlear Implants: Parental Perspectives (MPP), and the Mandarin version of Functioning after Pediatric Cochlear Implantation Instrument (FAPCI) were assessed.

Results: Health utility value was higher in both the CI_CI group (0.96±0.08) and the NH group (0.93±0.17) than in the HA_HA group (0.86±0.22) and the CI_HA group (0.88±0.21). Within the CI_CI group, no significant difference was found between simultaneous and sequential implantation (0.94±0.62 vs. 0.96±0.08). The CI_CI group (179.2±10.1) outperformed the CI_HA group (172.5±21) in MPP, with a significant difference in the "general functioning" domain (p=0.05). On the FAPCI, the CI_CI group (87.2±29.6) scored higher than the HA_HA (61.3±33.7) and CI_HA (76.9±32.2) groups and was comparable to the NH group (99.3±22). Of note, simultaneous implantation resulted in a higher score than sequential implantation (98.8±16.3 vs. 83.9±32.2).

Conclusions: Bilateral cochlear implantation improves health utility and quality of life in children with severe to profound SNHI, outperforming unilateral cochlear implantation and bilateral hearing aids.