Auditory processing abilities in prematurely born children

Abstract

Aim To compare the performance in temporal auditory ordering and resolution tests and the latency and ampli-tude in the records of middle latency auditory evoked potential and P3 of prematurely born children with theperformance of full-term children undergoing the same assessment protocol.Study design:Cross-sectional observational study.Subjects:Fifty-two children, aged 8 to 10 years, participated in the study and were divided into two groups:study group: 16 prematurely born children, and control group: 36 born full-term, at low risk for developmentalalteration and without scholastic or hearing difficulties.Outcome measures:All subjects underwent ordering tests (Frequency and duration pattern tests) and temporalauditory resolution tests (Gaps in noise test) and had their middle-latency auditory evoked potential and P3recorded by using an Intelligent Hearing System unit.Results:Prematurely born children had worse performance in the temporal ordering and resolution tests ascompared with children born full-term. With regard to middle-latency auditory evoked potential and P3, pre-maturely born children had higher mean values of latencies and poorer morphology, a statistical significancewas evidenced for P3 in the right ear.Conclusions:A prematurity effect was found in the temporal auditory processing measurements and in the P3