Long Term Voice Effects of Partial Deafness Cochlear Implantation

K Myszel; A Szkiełkowska; H Skarżyński; P H Skarżyński

doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2026.05.019

Long Term Voice Effects of Partial Deafness Cochlear Implantation

J Voice. 2026 Jun 8:S0892-1997(26)00242-0. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2026.05.019. Online ahead of print.

Authors

K Myszel¹, A Szkiełkowska², H Skarżyński², P H Skarżyński³

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, Poland; Greater Poland Center of Hearing and Speech, Konin, Poland; University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Konin, Poland. Electronic address: karol@myszel.pl.
² Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, Poland.
³ Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, Poland; Institute of Sensory Organs, Kajetany, Nadarzyn, Poland; Department of Tele-Audiology and Screening, World Hearing Center, Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing, Warsaw, Poland; Heart Failure and Cardiac Rehabilitation Department, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.

PMID: 42259675
DOI: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2026.05.019

Abstract

Partial deafness (PD) causes a deprivation in hearing high frequencies. This leads to voice functional voice disorders. Study shows that PD is associated with changes in frequency, amplitude, noise, tremor, and voice irregularities. Partial deafness cochlear implantation (PDCI) has been proven to improve voice quality. The aim of the study was to evaluate the long-term voice effects of PDCI on voice. Voice samples of 16 adult bilaterally PD patients were analyzed 72 months after one-sided PDCI and compared to the results obtained 9 months after the procedure. Results showed that the improvements of acoustic parameters continued over time after the PDCI. The main improvements were noticed in terms of frequency and amplitude. Compared to short-term analysis, most of the parameters decreased more in long-term observations, and more of them achieved statistical significance (smoothed pitch perturbation quotient, fundamental frequency variation, relative average perturbation, shimmer in decibels, shimmer percent, amplitude perturbation quotient, smoothed amplitude perturbation quotient, peak amplitude variation). Parameters of noise also decreased (noise-to-harmonic ratio, soft phonation index) as well as those representing irregularity in voice (degree of unvoiced) and subharmonics parameters (number of subharmonics, degree of subharmonics). Thus, we concluded that the vocal benefits of PDCI are better the longer the patient uses a cochlear implant.

Keywords: Cochlear implant; Objective voice analysis; Partial deafness; Perceptual voice assessment; Voice acoustics.