An interventional study of music therapy after Cochlear Implantation and no music therapy after Cochlear Implantation in Music Therapy After Cochlear Implantation, sponsored by Armina Kreuzer. Recruiting at 1 site in Switzerland. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 85 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-11-25.
Sponsored by Armina Kreuzer · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment
The aim of this clinical study is to investigate whether six months of music therapy immediately after CI implantation helps to improve speech intelligibility in noise. To investigate the effect of music therapy, a randomized study will be conducted with a "start group A" and a "delayed group" B (control group 1). Group A will start six months of music therapy immediately after cochlear implantation, group B six months later. A further control group 2 will not receive any music therapy. The speech intelligibility values resulting from the OLSA sentence test will be compared between the three groups after six and twelve months.
Improved speech perception is a main objective for any hearing rehabilitation using hearing devices. Even more challenging is speech comprehension in noisy environments.
Music therapy is one of the approaches that can assist users with achieving better performance in situations of difficult listening comprehension such as speech perception in noisy environments. One such music therapy concept developed in Heidelberg is based on the parallelism of language and music, whereby targeted training using musical parameters such as rhythm, pitch and timbre can have an impact on the ability to perceive speech. At present, the fact that music therapy can help improve speech intelligibility is primarily based on research with normal hearing listeners.
Nowadays, cochlear implant technology has the primary goal to restore functional hearing and speech perception in people with bilateral severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss. Good results will be achieved by post lingually deafened CI users regarding the understanding of open-set sentences presented in quiet. But our surroundings are rarely quiet. Therefore, the goal of good rehabilitation must be to ensure that CI users also can cope well in our noisy environment. Music therapy is thus intended to be the crucial piece in the puzzle that enables such understanding in noisy situations.
This study aims to investigate the benefits of music therapy for cochlear implant users in terms of their speech intelligibility performance in noise. This is an explorative study to determine suitable parameters such as the time point of starting the music.
This is the only study on the registry with Armina Kreuzer as lead sponsor.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
1. Patients with congenital deafness
Group A will begin six months of music therapy immediately after cochlear implantation.
Other: music therapy after Cochlear Implantation
Group B is the delayed group and will start music therapy six months after group A.
Other: music therapy after Cochlear Implantation
Group C won't receive any music therapy and serves as a control group.
Other: no music therapy after Cochlear Implantation
The music therapy is specially designed for the rehabilitation of CI-patients. It focuses on learning to distinguish different sound sources, especially when they occur at the same time. Training involves familiarization with different aspects of music such as rhythm, melody, and pitch while at the same time also getting to know the sound of different musical instruments, including singing. The training is also aimed at learning to concentrate on spoken instructions while the music is going on. This latter aim is fundamental to the goal of this study and plays a central role in the therapy.
Group C consists of persons who do not receive any music therapy after Cochlear Implantation.
Speech recognition threshold (SRT50) six month after Cochlear Implantation
The variable of primary interest is the speech recognition threshold (SRT50), measured in dB SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio), which leads to 50% speech understanding, as obtained using the OLSA-test following six months of music therapy immediately after implantation.
Time frame: six month after Cochlear Implantation
values of SRT50 of group A and B at twelve months
The question should be clarified as to whether the two groups A and B demonstrate the same improvement after 1 year. The values of the SRT50 of both groups will be compared at twelve months. The results could provide information on whether it makes a difference whether therapy is started immediately after the operation or only after six months.
Time frame: twelve months
Values of SRT50 of all groups at 12 months
It is also of interest whether the values of the SRT50 at twelve months of group C are really significantly different compared to A and B. This will give us an overview regarding the general benefits of music therapy for speech intelligibility in noise for CI users.
Time frame: 12 months
subjective improvements of speech intelligibilty
Subjective improvements in speech intelligibility after music therapy is determined using the HISQUI (Hearing Implant Sound Quality Index) questionnaire. This is a validated questionnaire consisting of 19 items scored on a 7-point Likert scale, for quantifying the self-perceived level of auditory benefit that cochlear implant users experience in everyday listening situations. A total of between 19 and 133 points can be achieved, and, depending on the result, 5 subjective sound quality categories are determined.
Time frame: 6 and 12 months
Plan to share: No — This is GCP compliant.
Eligibility is decided by the study team. Share this record with your doctor or contact the team directly.
Contact study teamGet an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.