The Danish test battery for auditory processing disorder evaluated with patient and control data

Abstract

Objective: This study evaluates the Danish test battery for auditory processing disorder (APD). The battery consists of four behavioural tests, two speech and two non-speech stimuli tests. The evaluation includes determination of: (1) new cut-off values (pass-fail criteria), (2) the sensitivity and the specificity of the entire test battery and (3) the failure rate of different test combinations.

Design: For each test in the battery, cut-off values were determined using the weighted Youden index. Applying the newly derived cut-off values, the distribution of failing specific test combinations was determined.

Study sample: A group of 112 children diagnosed with APD (57 boys, 55 girls, aged 6–16 years) and a control group containing 158 children without auditory problems (75 boys, 83 girls, aged 6–16 years).

Results: Cut-off values for different weights of the sensitivity and the specificity have been determined. Using the criterion that at least two tests have to be failed for APD to be suspected, the sensitivity and the specificity of the entire test battery were 95.3% and 91.6%, respectively. Some test combinations were found to have higher failure rates than others.

Conclusions: Due to the high sensitivity and specificity the test battery has good predictive value in APD assessment.

Keywords:

• Auditory processing disorder
• test battery
• children
• patient data
• cut-off values
• weighted Youden index
• sensitivity
• specificity

Acknowledgements

The author thanks the Danish APD group for initiating the project and for clearing up questions regarding APD in clinical practice in Denmark. A special thanks to Mariann Borlund from “Center for Høretab” (Centre for Hearing Loss), Berit Dahl-Hansen and Rikke Schnack-Petersen, both from Odense University Hospital, as well as Dorthe Mølgaard from Sønderborg Hospital/'Hjernecenter Syd & Tale Høre Syn' (Speech, Hearing and Vision Centre) for collecting and making data available for this study. The author also thanks Gert Ravn and Carsten Daugaard from DELTA for providing technical support. Furthermore, thanks go to all the children, who participated in the testing as well as their teachers and parents. Last not least, thanks to Christian Brandt, University of Southern Denmark for valuable discussions.

Disclosure statement

The author reports no conflicts of interest. The author alone is responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Note

Notes

1 In this paper, this test is called the dichotic numerals test. When the Danish APD test battery was introduced (Brandt 2010), the test was called the dichotic digits test. The name, dichotic digits test, is also used in Pedersen et al. (2017). However, as the test not only contains digits but also a numeral, the name dichotic digits test is not perfectly suitable. Therefore, this paper uses the name dichotic numerals test.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Oticon Foundation [Grant Number 12-1361].