Impact of the presence of auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) on outcomes of children at three years of age

Abstract

Objective: To determine the influence of the presence of auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) on speech, language, and psycho-social development of children at three years of age. Design: A population-based, longitudinal study was performed on outcomes of children with hearing impairment (LOCHI) in Australia. The demographic characteristics of the children were described, and their developmental outcomes were evaluated at three years of age. Performance of children with ANSD was compared with that of children without ANSD in the LOCHI study. Study sample: There were 47 children with ANSD in the study sample. Results: Sixty-four percent of children with ANSD have hearing sensitivity loss ranging from mild to severe degree, and the remaining have profound hearing loss. At three years, 27 children used hearing aids, 19 used cochlear implants, and one child did not use any hearing device. Thirty percent of children have disabilities in addition to hearing loss. On average, there were no significant differences in performance level between children with and without ANSD. Also, the variability of scores was not significantly different between the two groups. Conclusions: There was no significant difference in performance levels or variability between children with and without ANSD, both for children who use hearing aids, and children who use cochlear implants.

Key Words::

• Auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder
• children
• language outcomes
• psychosocial development
• functional performance
• hearing aids
• cochlear implants
• PEACH
• PLS-4
• PPVT
• CDI
• DEAP

Acknowledgements

We gratefully thank all the children, their families and their teachers for participation in this study.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no declarations of interest.

The project described was partly supported by Award Number R01DC008080 from the National Institute On Deafness And Other Communication Disorders. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute On Deafness And Other Communication Disorders or the National Institutes of Health. The authors acknowledge the financial support of the HEARing CRC, established and supported under the Cooperative Research Centres Program: an initiative of the Australian Government. Support for this research was also provided by New South Wales Department of Health, Australia, Phonak Ltd., and the Oticon Foundation.