Dichotic listening test (directed attention mode) in children with cleft lip and palate.
Conductive hearing loss in the first years of life may lead to hearing processing and attention deficit disorders, and consequently to communication and learning impairments.


OBJECTIVE
this paper aims to examine the performance of children with cleft lip and palate in dichotic listening tests (directed attention mode) and compare them to a control group without cleft lip and palate.


METHODS
fifty-two children of both genders were enrolled in the study. Their ages ranged between 7 years and 7 years and 11 months, and they were divided into two groups: a study group featuring children with cleft lip and palate (n=27) and a control group with children without this anomaly (n=25). The children were first interviewed, then underwent a series of conventional hearing tests, and lastly were applied the dichotic hearing test.


RESULTS
when submitted to the dichotic listening test (directed attention mode), the children in the study group had lower scores for both ears when compared to those in the control group. Statistical significance was found for variable gender in the groups, with p=0.026.


CONCLUSIONS
in the dichotic listening test only the girls with cleft lip and palate had lower scores than the girls in the control group. This is a prospective clinical study.
Lemos
Isabel Cristina Cavalcanti
ICC
MSc, Speech and Hearing Therapist.
Monteiro
Camila Zotelli
CZ
Speech and Hearing Therapist, scholarship holder.
Camargo
Renata Arruda
RA
MSc, PhD student.
Rissato
Ariane Cristina Sampaio
ACS
Speech and Hearing Therapist, MSc student.
Feniman
Mariza Ribeiro
MR
PhD, Associate Professor. Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru - Universidade de São Paulo.
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001288:Attention; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002971:Cleft Lip / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D003147:Communication Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D005260:Female; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors