Early activation in cochlear implantation: the patient's perspective.

Objectives: Early cochlear implant activation has been established as safe and effective. The purpose of this study is to assess the patient's perspective on their early activation experience.

Methods: A custom, 6-item questionnaire was administered to both adults and parents of pediatric patients who were activated within seven days of their surgery as part of their standard cochlear implant care. The questionnaire included four quantitative, Likert-style and two qualitative, open-ended questions about their activation experience.

Results: The study included 30 adult and three pediatric participants. Quantitative results showed that all participants (100%) found next-day activation convenient, with 94% preferring it over the traditional two-week wait. Most (79%) were surprised by the possibility of early activation, and nearly all (97%) would recommend it to others. Parents of pediatric patients echoed these sentiments, with all finding next-day activation convenient and preferable. Qualitative analysis revealed six themes: reduced travel burden, benefit of hearing sooner, general positive comments, recovery, support, and positive psychological impact. Suggested improvements are detailed.

Conclusion: This study establishes that adult and pediatric patients who underwent early activation demonstrate benefit from and preference for early activation. Patients benefitted from reduced travel burden, earlier access to hearing in the implanted ear, and positive psychological impacts, pointing to the need to consider broad application of early activation, tailored to individual patient preferences and circumstances.