Auditory Processing Abilities in Children with Previous Middle Ear Effusion

Abstract

The present study was designed to determine whether auditory processing disorders are present in children with documented middle ear effusion (MEE) that required surgical treatment. Children with previous MEE and control subjects, in two age groups, were studied using five tests of auditory processing abilities: low-pass filtered speech, staggered spondaic word test, speech in noise, auditory sequential memory, and sound blending. Results found differences in groups at mean age 7 on the filtered speech test, but no statistical differences were found on any other test at age 7 or on any test at mean age 9. The results indicate that well-managed MEE appears to have no long-term effects on children acquiring this disease.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Lim

Bluestone

Saunders

Senturia

. Recent advances in middle ear effusions. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1976; 85 suppl 25.

Senturia

Bluestone

Lim

Saunders

. Recent advances in otitis media with effusion. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1980; 89 suppl 68.

Holm

Kunze

. Effect of chronic otitis media on language and speech development. J Pediatr 1969; 43: 833–9.

Kaplan

Fleshman

Binder

Baum

Clark

. Long-term effects of otitis media: A 10-year cohort study of Alaskan Eskimo children. ] Speech Hear Disord 1969; 33: 132–46.

Howie

Ploussard

Sloyer

. Natural history of otitis media. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1976; 85 suppl 25: 18–30.

Paradise

. Management of middle-ear effusion in infants with cleft palate. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1966; 85 suppl 25: 285–8.

Lewis

. Otitis media and linguistic incompetence. Arch Otolaryngol 1976; 102: 387–90.

Needleman

. Effects of hearing loss from early recurrent otitis media on speech and language development. In: Jaffe

, ed. Hearing loss in children. Baltimore: University Park Press, 1977.

Zinkus

Gottlieb

Shapiro

. Developmental and psychoeducational sequelae of chronic otitis media. Am J Dis Child 1979; 132: 1100–4.

10.

Hersher

. Letter to the editor. Am J Dis Child 1980; 134: 94.

11.

Ventry

. Effects of conductive hearing loss: Fact or fiction. J Speech Hear Disord 1980; 45: 143–56.

12.

Harford

Bess

Bluestone

Klein

. Impedance screening for middle ear disease in children. New York: Grune & Stratton, 1978: 3–7.

13.

Hanson

Ulvestad

. Otitis media and child development, speech, language and education. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1979; 88 suppl 60: 108.

14.

Ruben

. A review of transneuronal changes of the auditory central nervous system as a consequence of auditory defects. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 1980; 1: 269–77.

15.

Farrer

Keith

. Filtered word testing in the assessment of children's central auditory abilities. Ear and Hearing (in press).

16.

Katz

. The staggered spondaic word test. In: Keith

, ed. Central auditory dysfunction. New York: Grune and Stratton, 1977, chap 4.

17.

Kirk

McCarthy

Kirk

. Illinois test of psycholinguistic abilities. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1968.

18.

Goldman

Fristoe

Woodcock

. Goldman-Fristoe-Woodcock auditory skills test battery. Circle Pines, Minn.: American Guidance Service, 1974.