Tablet-Based Telerehabilitation Versus Conventional Face-to-Face Rehabilitation After Cochlear Implantation: Prospective Intervention Pilot Study.
Christiane Völter, Carolin Stöckmann, Christiane Schirmer and 1 others
PMID 33709934WHAT IT FOUND
Adult cochlear implant users who had face-to-face therapy then tablet training improved on sentence-in-noise and speech tracking, but word and number tests and self-rated hearing did not change.
Key findings
01Sentence comprehension in noise improved significantly from after face-to-face therapy to after tablet training (P = .004).
02Speech tracking was 31.3 words per minute at baseline, increased by 4.92 words per minute after face-to-face therapy, and reached 41.3 words per minute after tablet training (P = .003).
03No significant changes were seen in the Freiburg word and number tests or in pseudoword syllable identification and repetition.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only 20 participants were studied, which is small for judging effectiveness. The training period was 3 weeks, much shorter than the 2-year rehabilitation period commonly used in Germany. All participants received face-to-face therapy before tablet training, so the paper says the tablet phase alone cannot be separated from earlier therapy. The design measured the same participants before and after each phase rather than comparing separate groups, so carryover from earlier therapy cannot be excluded. Older participants rated usability worse and needed more support, so results may not transfer equally across ages. Self-rated hearing did not change significantly, so objective test changes may not be noticed by patients. Cost estimates are based on this pilot and on replacing a standard course of 20 face-to-face sessions, not on long-term outcomes. The authors state that effects of age, sex, duration of hearing loss, technical experience, and hearing experience cannot be completely ruled out.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that tablet training alone caused the improvements. The same participants received three weeks of face-to-face therapy before three weeks of tablet training, and the paper says the digital phase alone cannot be separated from the earlier therapy.