Feasibility of Objective Assessment of Difference Limen for Intensity Using Acoustic Change Complex in Children with Central Auditory Processing Disorder

Introduction: Acoustic change complex (ACC) shows brain's ability to discriminate between acoustic features in an ongoing stimulus. It is this nature of ACC that has generated interest in studying the usefulness of ACC as an objective tool for evaluating difference limens for various stimulus parameters. The present study therefore aimed at investigating the utility of ACC as an objective measure of difference limen for intensity (DLI) in normal hearing children with and without (C)APD.

Methods: Fifteen children with (C)APD and 15 normal hearing children in whom (C)APD was ruled out (comparison group) in the age range of 8-12 years underwent ACC for 6 intensity differences (+1, +3, +4, +5, +10 & +20 dB) and a standard stimulus using a 1000 Hz stimulus.

Results: Behavioral DLI (DLI) as well as DLI found using ACC (DLI) were both significantly larger in children with (C)APD than the comparison group (p < 0.05). Further, there was a significantly strong positive correlation between DLI and DLI (p < 0.001].

Conclusion: Outcome of the study provides evidence for the clinical use of ACC as an objective tool for examining DLI in children with (C)APD.