The study of central auditory processing in stuttering children

Abstract

Abstract Background: There are evidences that indicate a relationship between auditory processing disorders and stuttering. Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate central auditory processing in stuttering children and to compare the findings with those of normal fluent children. Patients and methods: Twenty stuttering school-age children of both sexes were included in the study. A control group included 20 age-matched and sex-matched nonstuttering children. Full informed consent from all participants was taken before initiating the study. All participants were subjected to the following central auditory processing tests: pitch pattern sequence test (PPST), dichotic digit test (DDT), speech in noise test (children version) (SPIN), auditory fusion test revised (AFT-R), and binaural masking level difference (MLD) test. All patients were subjected to stuttering severity instrument III to assess their stuttering and its severity. Results: The stuttering group scored significantly poorer in the PPST, DDT, and SPIN, whereas they scored similar to the control group in MLD and AFT-R. There was no correlation between the severity of stuttering and the performance on the central auditory processing tests. Conclusion: Stuttering children have an intact brain stem integrity shown by the normal MLD and an intact right hemisphere as signified by the normal right and left ear difference in the DDT and by the improvement in the PPST on humming. Left hemisphere deficit appears in more complicated tasks such as PPST, DDT, and SPIN, but not in simple tasks such as AFT-R. We can conclude that the deficit is within the left cerebral hemisphere. Recommendation: The effect of the usage of central auditory processing disorder rehabilitation programs on those children should further be assessed.