title: Otitis media, fluctuant hearing loss, and speech-language outcomes: a preliminary structural equation model.
abstract: The goals of this study were to estimate the risk for lowered speech-language outcomes associated with early recurrent otitis media with effusion (OME) with and without hearing loss and to develop a preliminary descriptive-explanatory model for the findings. Three statistical approaches were used to assess associations among OME, hearing loss, and speech-language outcomes. Participants were a subsample of 70 children followed prospectively in the Dallas Cooperative Project on Early Hearing and Language Development (Friel-Patti & Finitzo, 1990). Findings indicated that hearing levels at 12-18 months were significantly associated with speech delay and low language outcomes at 3 years of age. The risk for subclinical or clinical speech delay at 3 years of age was 2% for children with less than 20 dB average hearing levels at 12-18 months and 33% for children with greater than 20 dB average hearing levels at 12-18 months. A structural equation model (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1993) indicated that the significant and substantial effects of hearing levels at 12-18 months on speech status at 3 years were significantly mediated by language status at 3 years. Discussion includes implications of these findings for alternative speech perception models linking early OME and hearing loss to later speech-language disorder.
authors.affiliation: The Phonology Project, Waisman Center on Mental Retardation and Human Development, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 53705, USA. shriberg@waisman.wisc.edu
authors.forename: L D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Shriberg
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Friel-Patti
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Flipsen
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007806:Language Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D010034:Otitis Media with Effusion / Q000150:complications*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013064:Speech Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*