The Effectiveness of Computerized Auditory Training Programme on Children With Auditory Processing Disorder (CBAT)

National University Health System, Singapore

Status: Completed

Conditions: Central Auditory Processing Disorder

Treatments: Other: Computer-based auditory training (CBAT)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02111343

D/09/485

Details and patient eligibility

About

The current study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a Computer-based auditory training (CBAT) intervention for children with Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) by comparing the changes in auditory processing (AP) and functional listening skills of these children immediately post-intervention, to that of the untrained controls. The AP skills of the trained group were evaluated again at 3 months post-intervention to examine the sustainability of any improvements made from the CBAT intervention. I hypothesised that after intervention, children from the auditory training (AT) group would improve in their AP skills, and that improvement would be greater than the changes in AP skills of those untrained controls. I also hypothesised that the improvement made from the intervention would sustain for at least 3 months after the end of intervention. Finally, I examined if the training outcomes are predictable from any underlying factors such as the initial AP, language, or cognitive skills of these children.

Full description

This prospective study incorporated a parallel group design that randomly assigned participants identified with CAPD to an auditory training (AT) group or a no intervention (Control) group. Both groups were matched for age and gender. Baseline measures were conducted prior to the randomisation process.

Participants from the AT group were given a 3-month home therapy using a CBAT programme developed for this study, while participants from the control group received no intervention for the same period of time. Apart from regular school attendance and activities, all participants were requested to discontinue any other auditory-based interventions, which might affect the outcomes of this study. All the participants were assessed again after the conclusion of the training period.

After the end of the intervention, participants from the AT group were requested to undergo a no-intervention phase for a period of 3 months before another assessment. This was intended to examine the sustainability of any improvement made through the CBAT programme.

An auditory test and two validated questionnaires were used as outcome measures, administered at baseline, and at post-3 months (immediately post-intervention).

Enrollment: 39 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 7 to 12 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Presentation to the clinic with reported symptoms of listening difficulties.

• No measurable peripheral hearing anomalies in both ears, i.e. normal cochlea and middle ear function, as judged by normal audiometric thresholds of 20dB HL or better in the speech frequency range of 250-8000 Hz, and normal impedance audiometry.

• Performance on the behavioural AP test battery (Table 6.1) which met the following criteria:

  • At least two abnormalities in the non-speech or minimally-linguistic loaded tasks.
  • No indication of any other underlying higher order cognitive problems as judged by abnormal performance scores in all the tasks in AP test battery.

• Normal intelligence, as judged by having a nonverbal IQ score of more than 85 (Test of Nonverbal Intelligence, TONI).

Exclusion criteria

• one with medical or developmental conditions, i.e. epilepsy, global developmental delay, pervasive learning disorder such as autism, which may additionally impact on auditory or cognitive performance.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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39 participants in 2 patient groups

Computer-based auditory training (CBAT)

Experimental group

Description:

The CBAT programmes in the current study were specifically designed to improve speech-in-noise and dichotic listening skills of children diagnosed with CAPD. All the training programmes were designed to be installed on home-user's computer, and they were visually attractive and appealing to children. The development of the software (non commercial) for the speech-in-noise and dichotic listening training was done by two different teams in the United Kingdom and Singapore, respectively.

Treatment:

Other: Computer-based auditory training (CBAT)

Control

No Intervention group

Description:

No intervention other than participants' regular school activities