Section: 
Otiology
OtiologyPhone communication characteristics in adolescents with cochlear implants and hearing aids
I. V. Koroleva (1), N. N. Shmagina (2)
(1), Saint Petersburg Research Institute of Ear, Nose, Throat, and Speech, Saint Petersburg, 190013, Russian Federation, (1) Children’s City Audiology Center, Saint Petersburg, 194356, Russian Federation, (2) Boarding School No 31 of the Nevsky District, Saint Petersburg, 192029, Russian Federation
UDK: УДК 616.28-008:376
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18692/1810-4800-2026-1-74-83
ABSTRACT
Abstract. Modern hearing aids and cochlear implants provide most children with hearing loss and deafness with the ability to perceive the speech of others. This potentially allows them to learn speech in a natural way through hearing and spontaneously, reaching a level of speech development close to normal. Objective. To identify the features and problems of communication by phone (smartphone) in adolescents with new hearing aids and cochlear implants who study at schools for children with hearing impairment, compared with peers with normal hearing. Patients and methods. For the first time, a study has been conducted on the features and problems of communication using a telephone (smartphone) in 15-18-year-old adolescents using hearing aids and cochlear implants from hearing families compared with adolescents with normal hearing. A survey using a specially designed questionnaire carried the study out. Results. More than 50% of adolescents with hearing aids and cochlear implants, like their hearing peers, communicate via smartphone for more than 60 minutes/day, and text messages are their leading way of communication. At the same time, they are much less likely to talk on the phone and only with close people. Audio messages, the second most frequently used method among hearing children, were used by only 13% of adolescents with hearing aids and cochlear implants. Participants in both groups like to communicate via video messages in messengers, while teenagers with hearing aids and cochlear implants are more likely to use video calls, through which they communicate with deaf friends in Russian sign language. The majority of adolescents with hearing aids and cochlear implants noted that it was more difficult for them to understand the interlocutor than to speak and more often avoided talking on the phone for fear that they would not understand the interlocutor. 26% of hearing adolescents also noted that they have difficulty understanding their interlocutor on the phone or when answering. There were no significant differences in the responses of adolescents in using a certain method of communication on the phone, depending on the means of hearing replacement.
Publication date:
24.02.2026
Keywords:
adolescents with cochlear implants, adolescents with hearing aids, telephone communication, auditory perception and dialogic speech development? For citation:
Koroleva I. V., Shmagina N. N. Phone communication characteristics in adolescents with cochlear implants and hearing aids. Russian Otorhinolaryngology. 2026;25(1):74-83. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.18692/1810-4800-2026-1-74-83