Sports Related Concussions and Auditory Processing Disorders November 11, 2011.
In the News Turgeon et al (2011) report approximately 1.6 to 3.8 million potential traumatic brain injuries per year in the United States. The authors compared the auditory processing (AP) abilities of 16 university athletes. Eight athletes had previous concussions; eight had no history of concussion.
All presented with normal hearing and none of the athletes had a history of tinnitus, hearing loss, attention deficit disorder, or neurologic or psychiatric disorders. AP ability was assessed with the Frequency Pattern Sequence Test, the Duration Pattern Sequence Test, the Synthetic Sentence Identification Test, and the Staggered Spondaic Word Test.
All “non-concussed” athletes (n=8) scored within normal limits on the AP tests. Of the concussed athletes (n=8), five presented with deficits on one or more of the AP tests. The authors note, consistent with previous studies, that concussions can lead to AP deficits, despite intact and normal auditory detection results. They note that additional studies regarding concussions might explore “the possible relationship with cognitive factors, such as memory and attention.”
For More Information, References, and Recommendations
Dawes P. (2011) The SCAN-A in Testing for Auditory Processing Disorder in a Sample of British Adults.
International Journal of Audiology 50:107-111. Fey ME, Richard GJ, Geffner G, Kamhi AG, Medwetsky L, Paul D, Ross-Swain D, Wallach GP, Frymark T, Schooling, T. (2011)
Auditory Processing Disorders and Auditory/Language Interventions: An Evidence-Based Systematic Review. Language, Speech and Hearing Services in Schools 42:246-264. Key APF, Porter HL, Bradham T. (2010)
Auditory Processing Following Sequential Bilateral Cochlear Implantation—A Pediatric Case Study Using Event Related Potentials. Journal of the American Academy of Audiology 21(4):225-238. Moore DR, Cowan JA, Riley A, Edmondson-Jones AM, Ferguson MA. (2011)
Development of Auditory Processing in 6- to 11-Year-Old Children. Ear & Hearing 32(3):269-285. Turgeon C, Champoux F, Lepore F, Leclerc S, Ellemberg D. (2011)
Auditory Processing After Sport-Related Concussions. Ear & Hearing 32(5): 667-670.