Early cochlear implantation in prelingual profound hearing loss in Italy, analyzed by means of a social media survey

To assess newborn hearing screening (NHS) impact on timing of cochlear implant (CI) surgery of patients with prelingual bilateral profound hearing impairment (BPHI), in order to evaluate whether the NHS ultimately serves the needs of the target population in Italy. An online questionnaire was created to survey subjects affected by prelingual BPHL born between 1990 and 2018. Questions focused on age at BPHI diagnosis, first and second CI surgery (if performed), and the region in which the surgery was performed. The survey was distributed to potential participants social media communities used by hearing impaired people or their family members for sharing advice and offering support. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Among the 318 respondents who completed the questionnaire, 276 (87%) reported having chosen CI surgery, 2/3 of them bilaterally. In the vast majority (97%) of cases the CI is used on a daily basis. Most of the people residing in the center (65%) and southern Italy (71%) had to move from their region of residence to perform the surgery. Late CI surgery was associated with failure to perform NHS ( = 0.007), birth before 2011 ( = 0.009), definitive diagnosis of BPHI after 6 months of life ( = 0.002), and progressive hearing impairment (