Click-evoked auditory brainstem responses and autism spectrum disorder: a meta-analytic investigation of disorder specificity.

Abstract

BackgroundClick-evoked auditory brainstem response (ABR) alterations are associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but the specificity of these findings to the disorder are unclear. We therefore performed a meta-analysis on ABRs and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a neurodevelopmental disorder that shares some etiologic and symptom overlap with ASD.MethodSeven papers compared ABR latency components (I, III, V, I–III, III–V, I–V) between participants with and without ADHD. We used random-effects regression to generate component-specific estimates (Hedges’ g) that adjusted for study sample sizes and the number of studies contributing to each estimate. We compared these estimates to our recently published meta-analysis of ABRs and ASD.ResultsAll ADHD studies employed cross-sectional designs. ADHD was associated with longer latencies for Waves III and V (g=0.6, 95%CI 0.3,1.0 and g=0.6, 95%CI 0.2,0.9) and Waves I–III and I–V (g=0.7, 95%CI 0.2, 1.3 and g=0.6, 95%CI 0.3, 1.0). Effect sizes from the ASD and ADHD meta-analyses did not differ from each other.ConclusionSimilar patterns of ABR alterations are observed in ADHD and ASD. However, studies rarely screen for middle ear dysfunction or hearing loss and rely upon cross-sectional designs. Addressing these issues will inform the viability of ABRs as a prognostic and/or etiologic biomarker for these disorders.