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Introduction
Musical ear syndrome is a form of musical hallucination, and is defined as the subjective experience of hearing music, or aspects of music, when none is being played.1Such hallucinations may be intermittent or continuous and are generally not controllable.1-4Musical hallucinations have been found in association with social isolation1, advanced age, hearing impairment,5-8brain lesions9and mental disorders such as depression.4The association between hearing impairment and musical hallucination is well documented; a comparison has been drawn between musical ear syndrome and Charles Bonnet syndrome, in which patients with visual loss experience complex visual hallucinations with preservation of insight. However, except for a single case report, musical ear syndrome in cochlear implantees has not been studied.10
Our study aimed to investigate the prevalence and nature of musical ear syndrome among adult patients who had undergone cochlear implantation (CI), and to assess the effect on their emotional well-being.
Materials and methods
The study consisted of a cross-sectional survey of adult patients (defined as patients aged 18 years and above) who had received cochlear implants for profound hearing loss between 1997 and 2010 at our institution. All the patients were primarily managed by the senior author (WKL). Patients were sent survey forms to assess whether they were experiencing musical ear syndrome.
Among these patients, those who had experienced musical ear syndrome were identified. These patients' case records were reviewed and they were invited to complete a questionnaire. This gathered information on the nature, characteristics and frequency of symptoms experienced, and explored the effect musical ear syndrome had on patients' mood, sleep and work.
The study was approved by the hospital's research ethics committee, the Centralised Institution Review Board. All patients included in the study gave written, informed consent to study inclusion, and were judged competent and capable of doing so.
Results and analysis
We included in the study 82 adult patients who had received cochlear implants at our institution between 1997 and 2010. All these patients' hearing had improved after CI.
Of these 82 patients, 18 (22 per cent) were experiencing musical ear syndrome at the time of study: 10 men (56 per cent) and...