Speech perception in noise: Exploring the effect of linguistic context in children with and without auditory processing disorder

Abstract

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate whether the speech perception problems in noise of children with auditory processing disorder (APD) stem from an auditory or a higher order dysfunction. Design: A repeated measures design comparing the sentence key word recognition scores of children with APD and a control group was used. Four sentence lists from the Test de phrases dans le bruit (TPB) were presented with a babble masker at four different signal-to-noise ratios. The TPB is a Canadian French adaptation of the speech perception in noise test. Study Sample: Ten participants between 9–12 years with APD participated in this study, as well as ten age- and gender-matched children with no sign of APD. Results: Group analyses revealed that children with APD had poorer overall sentence key word recognition scores than the control group. Analysis of the difference scores between the high and low predictability sentences indicated that the benefit derived from linguistic context is similar between the groups. However, individual patterns of results revealed different profiles within the APD group. Conclusion: Further study using a larger sample is warranted to deepen our understanding of the nature of APD and identify characteristic profiles to enable better tailoring of therapeutic programs.

Sumario

Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio fue investigar cuándo los problemas de percepción del habla en ruido, en niños con trastornos del procesamiento auditivo (APD), son producto de una disfunción auditiva o de niveles superiores. Diseño: Repetición de mediciones para comparar las puntuaciones de reconocimiento de palabras clave en una oración, entre niños con APD y los de un grupo control. Estudio: Se presentaron cuatro listas de oraciones del Test de Phrases dans le Bruit (TPB – Prueba de frases en ruido-) en presencia de balbuceo enmascarante, a cuatro diferentes relaciones señal/ruido. El TPB es una adaptación al Francés del Canadá, de la prueba de Percepción del Habla en Ruido. Muestra: Participaron en este estudio diez niños con APD entre 9-12 años y 10 niños sin signos de APD, pareados por edad y sexo. Resultados: El análisis de grupos reveló que los niños con APD tienen puntuaciones generales más pobres en el reconocimiento de palabras clave en oraciones, que los del grupo control. El análisis de las diferencias entre las puntuaciones de las oraciones de mayor o menor predictabilidad, indicaron que el beneficio que se deriva del contexto lingüístico es similar entre los dos grupos. Sin embargo, los patrones de resultados individuales, revelan diferentes perfiles en el grupo de niños con APD. Conclusiones: Se justifican estudios adicionales usando una muestra más amplia, para profundizar nuestro conocimiento sobre la naturaleza de los APD y para identificar perfiles característicos que nos permitan la mejor individualización de programas terapéuticos.

Key Words::

• Speech perception
• Behavioural measures
• Pediatric
• Psychoacoustics/hearing science

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank all the participants, including their parents and siblings. Without their willingness and desire to contribute to the development of scientific knowledge, this project would never have happened. Special thanks to our colleagues Sophie Waridel, Chantal Gauthier-Hotte, Amineh Koravand, and Marie-Claude Godin, audiologists in the Montreal and Ottawa regions, as well as to Hélène Lanoix, for their help in the recruitment process. The authors thank Kathy Pichora-Fuller, associate editor, for her helpful and thorough revision and comments on an earlier version of the manuscript, as well as anonymous reviewers. They also thank Penny Gosselin for her assistance in proof-reading the manuscript.

This work was supported by a doctoral fellowship from the Centre de recherche du CHU Sainte-Justine and Fonds québécois de la recherche sur la nature et les technologies.

Portions of this study were presented at the XXXth International Congress of Audiology in Saõ Paulo (Brazil) in April 2010.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.