Another point of controversy made by advocates are that there are racial disparities in the cochlear implantation evaluation process. Data taken from 2010-2020 showed that 68.5% of patients referred for evaluation were White, 18.5% were Black, and 12.3% were Asian, however the institution's main service area was 46.9% White, 42.3% Black, and 7.7% Asian. It was also shown that the Black patients who were referred for evaluation to receive the implants had greater hearing loss compared to White patients who were also referred. Based on this study, it is shown that Black patients receive cochlear implants at a disproportionally lower rate than White patients.
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- ^ Mahendran, Geethanjeli N.; Rosenbluth, Tyler; Featherstone, Miriam; Vivas, Esther X.; Mattox, Douglas E.; Hobson, Candace E. (2021-07-27). "Racial Disparities in Adult Cochlear Implantation". Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery. 166 (6): 1099–1105. doi:10.1177/01945998211027340. ISSN 0194-5998.