Development of Speech Intelligibility in Children with Recurrent Otitis Media

Abstract

This study defined developmental functions for PediatricSpeech Intelligibility word and sentence materials presented in quiet and in competition for 25 normal children and 25 children with recurrent otitis media. Ages ranged from 24 to 56 mos. In normal children, developmental functions for Pediatric Speech Intelligibility speech materials showed earlier development of performance (1) in quiet than in competition and (2) for words than for sentences (competing condition). In children with otitis media, developmental functions were normal for both words and sentences in quiet and for sentences in competition. However, developmental functions were grossly abnormal for words in competition.The effect of recurrent otitis media on the development of speech processing abilities remains unresolved. Animaldeprivation and cross-language studies6* 119 47-49. 56* 57 have consistently suggested that the nature of environmental sounds experienced by a developing animal or human influences the development of anatomical, physiological, and behavioral auditory mechanisms. These findings ento study the effect of conductive hearing loss due to otitis media on the development of speech processing skills. Almost without exception, results documented depressed linguistic and auditory processing abilities in children with a history of otitis media. However, the validity of most previous studies (before 1981) on the effects of otitis media on development has been ~hallenged.~'. 43v 45* 50, 55 Criticisms primarily allege faulty methodology and/or experimental design. In particular, the value of studies limited to older children with a history of otitis media has been questioned because results do not reveal probable developmental mechanism(s) underlying the abnormal behavior.In short, developmental abnormalities that may lead to eventual speech processing disorders in children with otitis media have been suggested, but not definitively isolated, by previous investigations. The purpose of the present study muraged many 7, 12. 25, 26, 32. 36, 41. 50. 58 'was to examine the influence of recurrent conductive hearing loss due to otitis media on the development of speech intelligibility. METHOD SubjectsSubjects were 50 Caucasian children, 25 girls and 25 boys, between 24 and 56 mos of age. Nine children were 24 to 26 mos old, 10 children were 27 to 29 mos old, 7 children were 30 to 32 mos old, 9 children were 33 to 35 mos old, 7 children were 36 to 38 mos old, 4 children were 39 to 47 mos old, and 4 children were 48 to 56 mos old. All 50 children had normal sensitivity [less than or equal to 20 dB HL (re: ANSI 1969)] on both ears for pure-tone signals between 250 and 4OOO

The Effect of Otitis Media with Effusion at Preschool Age on Some Aspects of Auditory Perception at School Age

“…Apparently, of the tests used in the present study, speech recognition in background competition is the task most sensitive to auditory deprivation. This is consistent with the findings of previous studies of auditory perceptual ability in children (Brandes & Ehinger, 1981;Gravel & Wallace, 1992;Jerger et al, 1983;Moore et al, 1991;Pillsbury et al, 1991) that have demonstrated performance on competitive listening tasks to be most consistently affected by OME.…”

“…In most previous studies using similar test procedures (Brandes & Ehinger, 1981;Hoffman-Lawless et al, 1981;Jerger et al, 1983;Pillsbury et al, 1991;Webster et al, 1989;Welsh et al, 19831, cases and controls were selected on the basis of retrospectively collected OME data and therefore subject to recruitment biases. The current data might therefore give a more reliable impression of the association between OME and some aspects of auditory perception at school age.…”

“…Therefore, they called for an aggressive approach in treatment of early conductive hearing losses due to middle ear disease. In several studies (Brandes & Ehinger, 1981;Jerger, Jerger, Alford, & Abrams, 1983;Gravel & Wallace, 1992) it was demonstrated that children with histories of otitis media perDepartments of Otorhinolaryngology (A.G.M.S., A.F.M.S., P.v.d.B. ) and Epidemiology (H.S.…”

The Galker test of speech reception in noise; associations with background variables, middle ear status, hearing, and language in Danish preschool children

“…An effect of long lasting OME on auditory processing [29] and speech perception has been described [30][31][32][33]. A study by Gravel et al did not confirm this effect [34].…”

Measures of Binaural Hearing in Children with a History of Asymmetric Otitis media with Effusion

“…The results of many investigations, among which several carefully designed longi tudinal studies, suggest a relationship be tween early OME and later language and edu-cational skills, at least for children up to 4 years of age [1][2][3]. Psychophysical studies have shown that children with a history of OME produce deviating results on several types of speech recognition tests [1,[4][5][6]. In general, effects of early OME on auditory pro cessing have been found in short-term evalua tions but to a lesser degree in the long term [4,5,7], This could mean that there is a gradual recovery of auditory processing capabilities after the OME episodes (and the associated hearing loss) have been resolved.…”