Auditory Outcomes in Adolescents with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Audiology
• Developmental Pediatrics

Background:

• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are linked to various neurodevelopmental issues.
• Auditory function is crucial for development, yet often overlooked in FASD research, especially in cases lacking clear physical signs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate auditory acuity, cochlear function, and auditory processing in adolescents with documented fetal alcohol exposure but no overt phenotypic changes.
• To determine if subclinical auditory deficits exist in this population.

Main Methods:

• A cohort study included 51 adolescents with and without intrauterine alcohol exposure.
• Auditory function was assessed blindly using pure-tone audiometry, transient otoacoustic emissions, and behavioral auditory processing tests (speech-in-noise, dichotic digits, gap-in-noise).

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in pure-tone thresholds or cochlear responses between exposed and non-exposed groups.
• Performance on auditory processing tests did not differ significantly between the groups.
• However, the exposed group exhibited a higher prevalence of overall hearing disorders (4.5% hearing loss + auditory processing disorders) compared to the non-exposed group (22.7% vs. 4.3%).

Conclusions:

• Adolescents with fetal alcohol exposure, despite lacking phenotypic changes, show a higher incidence of hearing disorders, particularly auditory processing deficits.
• These findings underscore the importance of comprehensive auditory function screening in individuals with prenatal alcohol exposure, irrespective of physical presentation.