Perspectives of Dutch health professionals regarding auditory processing disorders; a focus group study

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the perspectives of professionals from the Dutch audiological centres on the definition and care pathways of children with suspected auditory processing disorders (susAPD). Design: focus group interviews. Study sample: In total, 45 professionals from 6 disciplines, representing 22 different audiological centres and one ambulatory service, participated in five parallel focus group interviews. Participants had a variety of experience in diagnosing and advising children with suspected APD. Results: Qualitative analysis (open and thematic) identified four themes (“Definition”, “Causes”, “Diagnostic Procedures” and “Clinical Reasoning”) expressing a variety of perspectives. Differences in perspectives were mainly affected by two debates: (1) whether or not APD exists as a pure (auditory) disorder and (2) whether or not current AP-tests are suitable in diagnosing children with listening difficulties. They also expressed a need for more guidance from the literature in their clinical decision making process. Conclusions: Professionals from the Dutch audiological centres share a broad perspective on children with APD. The ICF framework supports this perspective, thereby diminishing the need for a clear definition. The use of AP-tests should be limited to children where broader developmental disorders are first ruled out; a possible “pure” APD could then be diagnosed in a limited number of children.

Key Words:

• Auditory processing disorder
• professionals’ perspectives
• focus group method

Note

Acknowledgements

First of all, the authors thank all participating professionals from audiological centres for their contribution to the discussions in the focus groups. The authors also thank lecturers Dian Verberne-Nuijten, Kirsten van den Heuij, and Iris Barends-Schaap and students Iris Lubbe, Marije Travaille, Tessa Backer, Manon de Ronde, and Rafaella Apai for their help in conducting the interviews, and the Dutch organisation for audiological centres (FENAC) for their help in organising the conference where the focus group interviews took place. The authors also thank Rosella den Hollander for making the focus group transcriptions, Connie Dekker-van Doorn for her help in independently coding the transcripts and Jae Evans for correcting our English.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no declarations of interest. Although the first author is a developer of Dutch auditory processing tests, she has no financial interest in the use (or non-use) of AP-tests.

Notes

1. Quotes are originally in Dutch, but translated for the purpose of this paper.