Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess the long-term changes in music perception among cochlear implant (CI) patients using the Korean version of the Clinical Assessment of Music Perception test and questionnaires for music listening.
Methods: Twenty-seven CI patients participated in this study. Their music perception ability was evaluated using the Korean version of the Clinical Assessment of Music Perception test, which consisted of pitch discrimination, melody, and timbre identification. The test was conducted at least twice after CI. A questionnaire was also used to quantify listening habits (LH) and level of musical experience (LE).
Results: The participants were divided into two groups according to the average of each test result from the first test. In the pitch discrimination test, the just-noticeable-difference limen values increased as the base frequency increased, and significant differences were observed between the results of 262 and 391 Hz (p = 0.006). In the good performance group, pitch discrimination in the second test did not significantly differ from the first test, but the pitch discrimination score significantly improved in the poor performance group. Similarly, timbre test results were significantly improved in the poor performance group. Neither group exhibited changes in the second test for melody identification. The scores for LH and LE significantly decreased postoperatively and did not recover during the follow-up period.
Conclusions: Pitch discrimination and timbre identification improved in CI listeners who exhibited poor musical performance shortly after surgery. However, melody identification did not improve over time. LH and LE scores decreased after CI surgery without time-dependent improvement.