Psychometric evaluation of children with auditory processing disorder (APD): comparison with normal-hearing and clinical non-APD groups.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the clinical utility of the Children's Auditory Processing Performance Scale (CHAPPS; Smoski, Brunt, & Tannahill, 1992) to evaluate listening ability in 12-year-old children referred for auditory processing assessment.


METHODS
This was a prospective case control study of 97 children (age range = 11;4 [years;months] to 12;7). Auditory processing disorder (APD) was diagnosed based on findings of deficits on at least 1 nonverbal test and on at least 2 tests of an auditory processing test battery. Clinically referred children were grouped as APD (n = 38) or non-APD (n = 20).


RESULTS
The study found that (a) the APD group performed lower than the non-APD group on the Quiet, Ideal, Memory (p < .0001), and Attention (p < .05) subscales of the CHAPPS; (b) the non-APD group performed lower than the group with normal hearing on the Noise, Multiple Inputs, and Attention subscales (p < .0001); and (c) there were significant moderate-to-strong correlations (Spearman's ρ > .04) between Dichotic Digits, Duration Pattern tests, and the CHAPPS Attention, Memory, and total scores.


CONCLUSIONS
The CHAPPS may be a clinically useful tool to evaluate listening ability in 12-year-old children suspected of having APD. Restricting use of the CHAPPS to older children may help address its limitations as reported by other studies.
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. viliad@auth.gr
Vasiliki
V
Iliadou
Doris Eva
DE
Bamiou
D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009622:Noise; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires