Relationship between proximity to a cochlear implant center and early presentation in children with congenital hearing loss

Objectives: To determine whether distance from a cochlear implant (CI) center can influences the ages of presentation and intervention for CI, which thus may influence CI outcomes in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: This study comprised a retrospective crosssectional analysis of 221 patients who presented to the CI committee between March 2016 and March 2018 at King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Through phone interviews and patients’ files, age at suspicion, audiology testing, diagnosis, hearing aid fitting, and CI discussion were recorded for prelingually deaf children; additionally, demographic information were recorded. Patients were divided into 3 groups based on the distance between their place of residence and the nearest CI center (residing within 200 km, 200-500 km, and >500 km).

Results: Patients living within 200 km showed the youngest mean age for all tested checkpoints; however, there were no statistically significant differences among the groups.

Conclusion: In Saudi Arabia, distance from CI center does not have a significant effect on age of presentation for CI intervention.