Staggered spondaic word test in epileptic patients.
BACKGROUND
Auditory processing during childhood may be altered if there is any predisposing factor during the course of development. Neurological disorders are among the risk factors for auditory processing impairment. From this perspective, epileptic children present such a risk factor and could present auditory processing dysfunction.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate central auditory processing in epileptic patients using the Staggered Spondaic Word Test (SSW) in order to verify whether these patients presented auditory disorders and whether the type of crisis partial or generalized played a role in the occurrence and type of disorder.


METHODS
Tertiary care hospital.


METHODS
Thirty-eight children and adolescents, ranging from 7 to 16 years old, with a diagnosis of epilepsy divided into two groups: 23 patients with partial crisis and 15 patients with generalized crisis.


METHODS
Performance in the Staggered Spondaic Word Test versus epileptic crisis type (partial or generalized).


RESULTS
The majority of epileptic patients showed central auditory processing disorders. There were no differences in relation to crisis type. Both groups showed similar performance, although the results observed for these patients differ from what is obtained with normal populations. With regard to response bias, there were also no differences in performance between subjects with partial or generalized seizures. All possible disorders were found in both groups, without the prevalence of one specific disorder over the other.


CONCLUSIONS
This study revealed a high prevalence of disorders among epileptic patients in relation to processing partially overlapped verbal sounds in a dichotic paradigm.
Ortiz
Karin Zazo
KZ
Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, São Paulo, Brazil. karin_zazo@hotmail.com
Pereira
Liliane Desgualdo
LD
Borges
Alda Christina Lopes de Carvalho
AC
Vilanova
Luiz Celso Pereira
LC
D000293:Adolescent; D001308:Auditory Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D012307:Risk Factors