Auditory Processing Assessment in Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: An Open Study Examining Methylphenidate Effects

Abstract

Introduction Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder can present Auditory Processing (AP) Disorder. Objective The study examined the AP in ADHD children compared with non-ADHD children, and before and after 3 and 6 months of methylphenidate (MPH) treatment in ADHD children. Methods Drug-naive children diagnosed with ADHD combined subtype aging between 7 and 11 years, coming from public and private outpatient service or public and private school, and age-gender-matched non-ADHD children, participated in an open, non-randomized study from February 2013 to December 2013. They were submitted to a behavioral battery of AP tests comprising Speech with white Noise, Dichotic Digits (DD), and Pitch Pattern Sequence (PPS) and were compared with non-ADHD children. They were followed for 3 and 6 months of MPH treatment (0.5 mg/kg/day). Results ADHD children presented larger number of errors in DD (p < 0.01), and less correct responses in the PPS (p < 0.0001) and in the SN (p < 0.05) tests when compared with non-ADHD children. The treatment with MPH, especially along 6 months, significantly decreased the mean errors in the DD (p < 0.01) and increased the correct response in the PPS (p < 0.001) and SN (p < 0.01) tests when compared with the performance before MPH treatment. Conclusions ADHD children show inefficient AP in selected behavioral auditory battery suggesting impaired in auditory closure, binaural integration, and temporal ordering. Treatment with MPH gradually improved these deficiencies and completely reversed them by reaching a performance similar to non-ADHD children at 6 months of treatment.

Auditory symptoms and psychological characteristics in adults with auditory processing disorders

“…It is possible to observe similar characteristics in subjects with developmental disorders such as ASD and AD/HD. Previous studies have reported that children with AD/HD showed sensory processing deficits, and APD and AD/HD have overlapping clinical characteristics ( Ghanizadeh, 2009 , Lanzetta-Valdo et al., 2017 ). Moreover, some studies argued that compared with controls, ASD subjects showed poorer scores on some auditory processing tests ( DePape et al., 2012 , Mamashli et al., 2016 ).…”

Speech Processing Difficulties in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“…Interestingly, ADHD participants’ perception of both CLR and NV speech was shown to be differential to controls even in quiet. It is, however, not uncommon in the literature that individuals with ADHD show impairments on central auditory processing tasks even though they have normal peripheral hearing (e.g., Gascon et al, 1986; Lanzetta-Valdo et al, 2016; Fostick, 2017). Indeed, a subject of some controversy is whether central auditory processing disorder is a distinguishable diagnosis from ADHD (Moss and Sheiffele, 1994; Riccio and Hynd, 1996).…”

“…Additionally, the use of central stimulant medication has also been shown to improve both auditory processing and the subjective experience of listening effort and background noise disturbance in persons with ADHD (Keith and Engineer, 1991; Freyaldenhoven et al, 2005; Lanzetta-Valdo et al, 2016). Although the use of stimulant medication in children is controversial and the long-term health risks are still being investigated (c.f.…”

Executive functioning skills of children with listening difficulties

“…Classroom behaviors observed include difficulty listening. Children with ADHD exhibit deficits in specific auditory skills such as auditory closure, binaural integration, and temporal ordering (Lanzetta‐Valdo et al, 2016).…”