title: Diagnostic accuracy of established central auditory processing test batteries in patients with documented brain lesions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency of commonly used behavioral central auditory processing tests and test batteries were determined for 20 individuals with known lesions of the central auditory nervous system (CANS) and related auditory symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-nine individuals with no known neurological involvement served as the control group. Both groups were administered dichotic digits (DD), competing sentences (CS), frequency patterns (FP), and low-pass filtered speech (FS) tests.
  
  
  METHODS
  Diagnostic indices for individual tests and test batteries comprised of two, three, or four tests were calculated both using a lax criterion in which failure on only one test in a battery led to a positive diagnosis and using a strict criterion in which failure on all tests in the battery was necessary to trigger a positive diagnosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The test battery providing the best balance between sensitivity and specificity varied as a function of criterion. The two-test DD-FP battery using a strict criterion demonstrated the best balance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Limitations of particular tests, the advantages of larger test batteries to more broadly examine multiple auditory processes, the degree to which the present results can be generalized clinically to populations without known brain lesions, and other clinical considerations are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Neuroaudiology Laboratory, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06238, USA. frank.musiek@Uconn.edu
authors.forename: Frank E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Musiek
authors.forename: Gail D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Chermak
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weihing
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zappulla
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagle
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012372:ROC Curve; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult