(Central) Auditory Processing: the impact of otitis media

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:To analyze auditory processing test results in children suffering from otitis media in their first five years of age, considering their age. Furthermore, to classify central auditory processing test findings regarding the hearing skills evaluated.METHODS:A total of 109 students between 8 and 12 years old were divided into three groups. The control group consisted of 40 students from public school without a history of otitis media. Experimental group I consisted of 39 students from public schools and experimental group II consisted of 30 students from private schools; students in both groups suffered from secretory otitis media in their first five years of age and underwent surgery for placement of bilateral ventilation tubes. The individuals underwent complete audiological evaluation and assessment by Auditory Processing tests.RESULTS:The left ear showed significantly worse performance when compared to the right ear in the dichotic digits test and pitch pattern sequence test. The students from the experimental groups showed worse performance when compared to the control group in the dichotic digits test and gaps-in-noise. Children from experimental group I had significantly lower results on the dichotic digits and gaps-in-noise tests compared with experimental group II. The hearing skills that were altered were temporal resolution and figure-ground perception.CONCLUSION:Children who suffered from secretory otitis media in their first five years and who underwent surgery for placement of bilateral ventilation tubes showed worse performance in auditory abilities, and children from public schools had worse results on auditory processing tests compared with students from private schools.

Relação entre os achados do teste masking level difference e do reflexo acústico em crianças com transtorno fonológico

“…One explanation for this result may be the high incidence of otitis media during early childhood 33 . A recent study, which investigated the impact of otitis media on speech perception in the presence of a masking noise, confirmed the hypothesis that the presence of a history of otitis media in early childhood, has negative consequences on the mechanisms related to auditory processing, especially the binaural interaction 33,34 . This is due to the partial hearing loss which occurs during the period of infection, causing damage to the auditory canal and processing of auditory information not only for the duration of the infection but also persisting after treatment.…”

Auditory temporal abilities in children with history of recurrent otitis media in the first years of life and persistent in preschool and school ages

“…The authors reported that, when comparing the scores of correct answers between groups, those with a history of otitis did not differ from the CG. However, when considering the test result as a categorical variable, normal or altered, there was a difference between them (16) . It is important to highlight some issues to allow understanding of the lack of agreement of the results for the comparative analysis between the absolute scores of the FPT between this study and the work cited (16) .…”

“…Children of the SG showed inferior results compared to those of the CG in the two tasks. The FPT, with the naming task was also used in another study on the effects of ROME about hearing, where children were assessed at ages 8-10 years (16) . The authors reported that, when comparing the scores of correct answers between groups, those with a history of otitis did not differ from the CG.…”

“…The effects of recurrent OME (ROME) on hearing acuity in the short and long terms are well documented (6,7) . However, results on the auditory central nervous system (ANCS), despite the vast amount of information available, are controversial (2,(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16) . Studies focus on the premise of interdependence between episodes of OME and the change in tone thresholds, called fluctuating conductive hearing loss, because 80% children diagnosed with OME exhibit this kind of loss that acts as a sensory deprivation (8,15) .…”

“…Speech recognition in monotonic, low redundancy condition is commonly used, and the speech-in-noise test is the most studied (7,11,12,14) . However, temporal processing is also often chosen, represented by resolution abilities (2,10,16) as well as binaural interaction (7,8) . Regarding age, there is a difficulty in interpreting the results of behavioral tests of auditory processing in children younger than 7, due of the aspect of the maturation phase of the ANCS and the demand for resources needed for the children to perform the tests (19) .…”