The impact of otitis media with effusion on early phonetic inventories: a longitudinal prospective investigation

Abstract

This prospective investigation examined the effects of otitis media with effusion (OME) on early speech production. Two groups of infants, the otitis media positive (OME+; n=8), and the otitis media negative (OME-; n=8) were defined according to otitis media (OM) history during the first year of life. OM documentation was based on results from tympanometry, pneumatic otoscopy, and behavioural audiometry collected bimonthly beginning at age 2 months. Phonetic transcriptions were completed from infants' recorded babbling samples at 10, 12 and 14 months of age. No differences were found between the two groups on rate of vocalizations (i.e. consonants produced per minute). Differences between the two groups were seen in place and manner of articulation. OME infants produced more bilabial stops than OME- infants who, in turn, produced more alveolar stops and nasals than did their OME+ counterparts. Furthermore, within the OME+ group, children with poorer hearing thresholds showed preference for bilabial stops, whereas children with better hearing thresholds showed more diversity in their phonetic inventories.