Auditory Processing Disorder and Its Comorbidities: A Need for Consistency in Test Cutoff Scores

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Audiology

Background:

• Developmental Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) lacks standardized diagnostic criteria.
• Comorbidities are common in children with suspected APD.
• Identifying reliable APD diagnostic criteria is crucial for effective intervention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish evidence-based diagnostic criteria for APD.
• To investigate the predictive role of comorbidities in APD diagnosis.
• To align APD diagnostic criteria with those used for common comorbidities.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective study of 167 children (ages 6-16) with suspected APD.
• Auditory processing (AP) assessed using five SCAN-3 tests.
• Comorbidities (ADHD, language impairment, manual dexterity) identified via standardized scales.

Main Results:

• Two proposed criteria showed high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing APD.
• Approach I (≤9th percentile in ≥2 AP tests) diagnosed 119 participants.
• Approach II (≤5th percentile in ≥1 AP test + comorbidities) diagnosed 123 participants.
• Combined approaches diagnosed 128 participants (76.6%) with APD.
• Language impairment and impaired manual dexterity predicted APD, unlike ADHD.

Conclusions:

• "Percentile ≤ 9 in two or more AP tests" and "percentile ≤ 5 in one AP plus one or more measures of comorbidities" are proposed evidence-based APD diagnostic criteria.
• Holistic and interprofessional evaluation, including motor skills, is essential for accurate APD diagnosis.
• Comorbidity assessment aids in refining APD diagnosis and understanding its developmental trajectory.