Sound quality, not speech recognition, explains cochlear implant-related quality of life outcomes

This study examined relationships between cochlear implant-aided speech recognition, sound quality ratings, and quality of life outcomes in 41 adult cochlear implant users. Participants completed word and sentence recognition tasks, the Speech, Spatial and Qualities (SSQ) questionnaire, and the Cochlear Implant Quality of Life (CIQOL) questionnaire. Sound quality ratings on SSQ showed a weak correlation with sentence recognition in noise but strong positive correlations with CIQOL scores. Sound quality independently predicted quality of life, explaining 32% of global score variance, while speech recognition measures showed no effects. These findings highlight sound quality as a distinct and meaningful outcome metric.