Social Network Characteristics and Their Relations to Speech Recognition and Quality of Life in Adult Cochlear Implant Users.

The study was cross-sectional and correlational, so it cannot determine if diverse social networks improve hearing outcomes or if people with better hearing outcomes are simply more likely to have diverse networks. The sample size was small (n = 26), limiting the ability to account for individual differences such as duration of hearing loss, cognitive status, or socioeconomic factors. Device configuration (unilateral vs. bilateral vs. bimodal) was not controlled for in the primary analysis, despite evidence that it may affect access to auditory cues. Accent diversity was self-reported and may have been inaccurate if participants could not perceive accent differences in their conversation partners.

This project was supported by grants from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, the American Hearing Research Foundation, and the Vanderbilt Training of Otolaryngology Physician-Scientist Grant. The authors declared no competing financial interests.

Do not interpret the association between age diversity and better outcomes as evidence that increasing a patient's social network size will improve their hearing. The study found no significant relationship between network size and outcomes, and the design cannot prove that diverse networks cause better speech recognition.