Auditory Processing Disorders in children suspected of Learning Disabilities--a need for screening?
OBJECTIVE
The current study aims to assess: (a) the prevalence of auditory processing in a population of children reporting learning difficulties, (b) the correlation of APD diagnosis with age, the intelligence coefficient (IQ) and with the presence of a specific learning disability such as dyslexia and (c) to evaluate the reliability of each auditory processing test used in this study in identifying APD.


METHODS
We evaluated one hundred and twenty-seven consecutive children referred to the academic tertiary LD Clinic of the Psychiatric Department by means of a psychoacoustic mainly non-verbal test battery.


RESULTS
APD was found to be present in 43.3% and co-existing with developmental dyslexia in 25% of cases. The diagnosis of APD correlated with age in that children with APD were younger by 2 years than those without a diagnosis of APD. The diagnosis of APD did not correlate with IQ or with the diagnosis of dyslexia.


CONCLUSIONS
High prevalence of APD in the targeted group of children suspected of Learning Disabilities sets the grounds for a possible benefit in screening for the disorder.
Iliadou
Vassiliki
V
Clinical Psychoacoustics Lab, Psychiatry Department, Neuroscience Division, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Filellinon 6, 55236 Thessaloniki, Greece. viliad@auth.gr
Bamiou
Doris-Eva
DE
Kaprinis
Stergios
S
Kandylis
Dimitris
D
Kaprinis
George
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001308:Auditory Perceptual Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011571:Psychoacoustics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results