Abstract
The purpose of this study was to quantify how the use of two different cutoff criteria affects the test failure rate and potential diagnosis of central auditory processing disorder ([C]APD) in a sample of children subjected to central auditory processing ([C]AP) assessment.Test failure rates for the central test battery (CTB) using two different cutoff criteria (1 and 2 SDs below the mean) were measured retrospectively for 98 children who completed (C)AP assessment. The rates of potential (C)APD diagnosis ranged from 86.8% [when a 1 standard deviation (SD) cutoff was used] to 66.2% (when a 2 SD cutoff was used). The current use of two different cutoffs for the CTB has a large impact on the diagnostic rate for (C)APD. These findings have clinical implications for the diagnosis of (C)APD due to the widespread use of the CTB in the United States for the assessment of (C)APD in children. Thus, it is important to create awareness among audiologists that use of the 2 SDs cutoff criterion is recommended for reducing false positives (error).
Highlights
Identifying children as having central auditory processing disorder ([C]APD) can be a challenge for educators and audiologists due, in part, to lack of a “gold standard” for differential diagnosis
-100 and +50 daPa;13 - No neurological disorders; and - English as the primary language. - Demographic data and three central test battery (CTB) test scores were collected for these children (F=36, M=62), who had a median of age 9 years
The results of the analysis revealed the absence of a difference ( (2, N=98)=1.43, P=0.51), indicating that the distribution of the current sample was similar to a normal distribution between 1 and 2 standard deviation (SD)
Summary
Identifying children as having central auditory processing disorder ([C]APD) can be a challenge for educators and audiologists due, in part, to lack of a “gold standard” for differential diagnosis. Standardized central auditory processing ([C]AP) tests are routinely used in the United States, there is no universally-accepted (C)APD test battery. There is a lack of agreement among researchers and clinicians about the cutoff scores that should be used. Some researchers recommend 2 SDs below the mean as the cutoff score that should be used to classify children as pass or fail on (C)AP tests.[1,2,3,4] others support using 1 SD below the mean as the cutoff score.[5] Because two different cutoff scores are used, clinicians identify children with (C)APD at different rates. The proportion of children with lower scores on (C)AP tests who have (C)APD remains uncertain
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