Auditory processing in dysphonic children

Contemporary cross-sectional cohort study. There is evidence of the auditory perception influence on the development of oral and written language, as well as on the self-perception of vocal conditions. The auditory system maturation can impact on this process.ObjectiveTo characterize the auditory skills of temporal ordering and localization in dysphonic children.Materials and MethodsWe assessed 42 children (4 to 8 years). Study group: 31 dysphonic children; Comparison group: 11 children without vocal change complaints. They all had normal auditory thresholds and also normal cochleo-eyelid reflexes. They were submitted to a Simplified assessment of the auditory process (Pereira, 1993). In order to compare the groups, we used the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests. Level of significance: 0.05 (5%).ResultsUpon simplified assessment, 100% of the Control Group and 61.29% of the Study Group had normal results. The groups were similar in the localization and verbal sequential memory tests. The nonverbal sequential memory showed worse results on dysphonic children. In this group, the performance was worse among the four to six years.ConclusionThe dysphonic children showed changes on the localization or temporal ordering skills, the skill of non-verbal temporal ordering differentiated the dysphonic group. In this group, the Sound Location improved with age.