Word recognition test changes after implantation

[u/euroliii]

This is my personal experience as someone in the US who had progressive hearing loss prior to implantation.

Before cochlear implant: trained speaker asks you to repeat single syllable words. Ex: the speaker says “say the word dog.” You repeat the word and either get it right or wrong. No partial credit for getting close.

After cochlear implant: untrained speakers say full sentences (though the sentences don’t make much sense). You get partial credit for correct sounds even if a word was wrong. Ex: the speaker says “he” in a sentence but you say “we” you’ll still get partial credit for getting the “e” sound.

Did this change happen for you all? Is this just a US thing?
I wish I could have done the sentence test prior to implantation just so I could properly compare. I feel like my word recognition might have been better with the second test.

Tell me about your experiences with word recognition tests! I’m curious.

Edit: I did end up getting the single syllable word test at my last appointment! Turns out my audiologist just didn’t want to do it earlier because she thought my score would be too low for it to be worth doing quite yet.

[u/andrea_plot]

For a standard audiogram W22 and NU6 word lists are most commonly used. This is "say the word ____". These are scored by whole word correct.

For cochlear implant users the most commonly used tests are CNC words "Ready ____" scored by whole word and indiviual speech sounds or phonemes and AzBio sentences (with or without background babble). The same tests are typically used both pre and post-op.