HEARING PERFOMANCE WITH THE USE OF BIMODAL STIMULATION
Cochlear implant; Hearing aids; hearing loss; speech perception
Introduction: It is still necessary to understand all the benefits of bimodality on the effect of hearing on the quality of life of users. Objective: To present whether bimodality still offers hearing benefits to the population who uses acoustic stimulation associated with electrical stimulation. Methods: This study included 13 participants, with a mean age of 49.8 years, users of Cochlear Corporation brand cochlear implants and hearing aids. All were submitted to the Hearing In Noise Test and the visual analogue scale. Means of frequencies of 500, 1000, 2000 and 4000 hertz were collected and participants responded to the Speech, Spatial and Qualities of Hearing Scale. Results: Bimodal users had an average sentence recognition rate of 76.0% in silence and 67.6% in fixed noise, and the signalto-noise ratio in adaptive noise was +2.89 dB. In addition, a lower level of difficulty was observed in the test using the visual analog scale. The domain with the highest average was auditory qualities (6.50), followed by spatial hearing (6.26) and hearing for speech (5.81). Individuals with an average between 50 and 70 dB of hearing level showed better sentence recognition in silence and noise. Conclusion: Bimodal stimulation showed benefits for users with different degrees of hearing loss; however, individuals who presented greater hearing residue had better performance in speech recognition in silence and noise in addition to a good perception of hearing quality.