Effect of long-term cochlear implant use on education and occupation: A systematic review

Purpose: Cochlear implant (CI) technology has improved significantly positively impacting the quality-of-life of the users. Over the past few decades. Nevertheless, the results of the studies on the academic performance of CI users are contradictory in the literature. Aim and objective: The current study aimed to systematically review the articles published in the past 10 years (2011–2021) on the effect of the long-term use of CIs on education and occupational outcomes. Method: The reviewers selected 10 articles from 11,037 in various databases in this systematic review. Results: The review showed mixed results from the selected studies. Some research found that CIs users did worse than their typical peers. In contrast, a few other studies found that CI recipients performed equal to or better than their typical peers or the general population. CI recipients have considerably lower occupational levels than the general population. Many factors could influence educational and occupational outcomes in long-term CI users. Conclusion: Even though there are varied results regarding educational outcomes in long-term CI users, some studies showed good academic performance in CI recipients. However, there is a need for more studies to understand better the factors that affect the educational and occupational abilities of long-term CI users.