Bilateral and Unilateral Cochlear Implant Users Compared on Speech Perception in Noise

Objective: Compare speech performance in noise with matched bilateral cochlear implant (ClCl) and unilateral cochlear implant (Cl only) users. Design: Thirty CICI and 30 CI-only subjects were tested on a battery of speech perception tests in noise that use an eight-loudspeaker array. Results: On average, ClCl subject's performance with speech in noise was significantly better than the Cl-only subjects. Conclusion: The CICI group showed significantly better performance on speech perception in noise compared with the CI-only subjects, supporting the hypothesis that CICI is more beneficial than CI only.