Auditory training for adults with cochlear implants: a systematic review

Objective To systematically review the peer-reviewed literature on the efficacy of auditory training (AT) on auditory outcomes in post lingually deafened adults with cochlear implants (CIs). Design A systematic review. Study Sample Searches of five electronic databases yielded 10 studies published after 2010 that met the inclusion criteria. Results For post lingually deafened adults with CIs, the evidence is suggestive that some AT can improve some auditory outcomes compared to no training. More specifically, the evidence suggests that phonemic training can improve identification of trained phonemes, and nonsense word training can improve sentence recognition in noise in this population. Conclusions While many AT interventions are currently being used with post lingually deafened adults with CIs, the evidence for AT improving auditory outcomes is suggestive with the best evidence being for nonsense word training improving sentence recognition in noise by an average of 10% with these improvements retained at 26 weeks post-training in this population. There remains a need for high quality studies that have the capacity to demonstrate, clearly and unequivocally, which AT is most effective for improving which auditory outcomes in this population.

Automated summary

This systematic review examined the efficacy of auditory training on auditory outcomes in post lingually deafened adults with cochlear implants. The evidence suggests that certain auditory training can improve specific auditory outcomes, such as phonemic training improving phoneme identification and nonsense word training enhancing sentence recognition in noise. High quality studies are needed to determine the most effective auditory training for improving outcomes in this population.