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. 2023 Feb 1;44(2):148-152.
doi: 10.1097/MAO.0000000000003778. Epub 2022 Dec 17.

Effect of a Global Pandemic on Adult and Pediatric Cochlear Implantation across the United States

John P Marinelli  1 , Ashley M Nassiri  1 , Christine M Lohse  2 , Colin L W Driscoll, Brian A Neff, Matthew L Carlson
Affiliations

Effect of a Global Pandemic on Adult and Pediatric Cochlear Implantation across the United States

John P Marinelli et al. Otol Neurotol. .

Abstract

Objective: To characterize the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on national cochlear implantation utilization by age using inclusive cochlear implantation data from two manufacturers between 2015 and 2020.

Study design: Analysis of prospectively registered consecutive patient data from two major cochlear implant (CI) manufacturers in the United States.

Patients: Children or adults who received CIs.

Interventions: Cochlear implantation.

Main outcome measures: Annual implantation utilization by age.

Results: A total of 46,804 patients received CIs from the two participating manufacturers between 2015 and 2020. The annual number of implant recipients increased significantly during the first 5 years of the study period for both children and adults, from a total of 6,203 in 2015 to 9,213 in 2019 (p < 0.001). During 2020, there was a 13.1% drop in national cochlear implantation utilization across all ages compared with 2019, including a drop of 2.2% for those ≤3 years old, 3.8% for those 4-17 years old, 10.1% for those 18-64 years old, 16.6% for those 65-79 years old, and 22.5% for those ≥80 years old. In a multivariable linear regression model, the percent drop in CIs differed significantly by age-group (p = 0.005).

Conclusions: Especially in light of the prepandemic projected CI counts for 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced national cochlear implantation utilization by over 15% among Medicare-aged patients and by almost 25% among those ≥80 years old, resulting in more than a 3-year setback in total annual CIs. Children were less affected, with those ≤3 years old experiencing minimal interruption during 2020.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest: The authors report no relevant conflict of interest in submitting this article for publication. Analysis of the data was performed independently by the research team without input by either cochlear implant manufacturer.

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