[Psychoacoustic methods in diagnosis of central auditory processing disorders in prematurely born children]
I V Savenko1, E S Garbaruk1,2, M Yu Boboshko1,3
1Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
Insights
Premature birth can cause central auditory processing disorders affecting sound information processing. These auditory dysfunctions, particularly in temporal processing, persist into adolescence.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Audiology
- Developmental Pediatrics
Background:
- Premature birth is associated with perinatal risk factors and comorbidities.
- These factors can disrupt higher-order auditory processing, leading to central auditory disorders even without peripheral hearing loss.
Purpose of the Study:
- To audiologically assess the functional status of the central auditory system in prematurely born children.
- To identify specific auditory processing deficits in this population.
Main Methods:
- The study included 54 preterm infants (6-11 years) and 70 term-born controls.
- Methods included the Random Gap Detection Test (RGDT), rhythmic sequence perception, speech testing in noise (monaural, binaural, dichotic), and the Russian Matrix Phrasal Test in Noise (RUMatrix).
Main Results:
- Preterm children performed significantly worse on RGDT, rhythmic sequence perception, and dichotic binaural integration tests compared to controls.
- Speech intelligibility in noise was impaired, particularly in younger preterm children and on the RUMatrix test (65% impairment).
- Temporal processing deficits were most pronounced and persisted into adolescence.
Conclusions:
- Prematurely born children exhibit multilevel central auditory system dysfunction.
- These deficits, especially in temporal processing, are not fully compensated by adolescence.
Introduction:
The presence of numerous perinatal risk factors and comorbid pathology in prematurely born children, even in the absence of peripheral auditory deficit, can lead to disruptions in the processes of higher nervous sound information processing with the formation of central auditory disorders.
Objective:
Audiological assessment of the functional state of auditory system central parts in prematurely born children.
Material And Methods:
The study involved 54 deeply premature born infants, which were divided into 3 groups depending on age (6-7, 8-9, and 10-11 years), 18 subjects in each group, and 70 healthy, term-born children of the corresponding age. In addition to the traditional audiological examination, all children underwent an assessment of functional state of the central parts of auditory system through a pause detection test (Random Gap Detection Test, RGDT); the perception of fast rhythmic sequences of stimuli, monaural low excess speech testing, binaural interaction test in alternating binaural speech format (ABS ), dichotic presentation of pairs of single digits, single digits and monosyllables, two-digit numerals, Russian matrix phrasal test in noise (RUMatrix) were studied.
Results:
Prematurely born infants of all age groups were significantly worse compared to control group (p<0.01) while having RGDT, a test for assessing the perception of fast rhythmic sequences of stimuli and dichotic binaural integration tests. Monaural intelligibility of monosyllabic words in silence in children of all three groups did not differ from normal values, but it suffered from contralateral use of noise interference in children aged 6-7. According to the RUMatrix test, legibility of phrases in noise was impaired in 65% of subjects. Test results in the ABS format revealed a significant violation of speech intelligibility (p<0.01) only in children of the younger age group.
Conclusion:
In prematurely born children, there is a dysfunction of the central parts of the auditory system, which is multilevel in nature, partially leveling as children grow older. Moreover, the processes of temporary processing of acoustic information suffer to the greatest extent, not being compensated up to adolescence.
