Candidacy Criteria

Is Your Patient a Candidate for A Cochlear Implant?
The only way to know for certain if someone is a cochlear implant candidate is to be evaluated at a professional cochlear implant center. The information provided here will help you determine if you should refer a candidate to a Cochlear Implant Clinic.

Click here to find a list of clinics in your area that you can refer candidates to.

ADULTS

18 years of age or older
Severe to profound, bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss (>70 dBHL).
Postlingual onset of severe to profound hearing loss.
Limited benefit from appropriately fitted hearing aids, defined as scoring 50% or less on a test of open-set sentence recognition (HINT Sentences).
Desire to improve hearing and realistic expectations
No medical contraindications

Real life experiences that may suggest the need for a cochlear implant:

Cannot understand most phone conversations

Difficulty understanding conversations in groups or noisy places

Rely heavily on lipreading

Limited social, educational, or professional life options

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CHILDREN

12 months through 17 years of age.

Profound, bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss (>90 dBHL)

Use of appropriately fitted hearing aids for at least 6 months in children 2 through 17 years of age, or at least 3 months in children 12 through 23 months of age. The minimum duration of hearing aid use is waived if x-rays indicate ossification of the cochlea.

Little or no benefit from appropriately fitted hearing aids.

In younger children (<4 years of age), lack of benefit is defined as a failure to reach developmentally appropriate auditory milestones (such as spontaneous response to name in quiet or to environmental sounds) measured using the Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale or Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale or <20% correct on a simple open-set word recognition test (Multisyllabic Lexical Neighborhood Test) administered using monitored live voice (70 dB SPL).

In older children (>4 years of age), lack of hearing-aid benefit is defined as scoring <12% on a difficult open-set word recognition test (Phonetically Balanced – Kindergarten Test) or <30% on an open-set sentence test (Hearing in Noise Test for Children) administered using recorded materials in the soundfield (70 dB SPL).

Motivation to improve hearing and realistic expectations by the family

No medical contraindications

Real life experiences that may suggest the need for a cochlear implant:

Delayed or lack of speech and language development

Rarely responds to name

Lack of social interaction with children and adults

Speech and hearing emphasis in child’s education or therapy environment

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