The development of the Questionnaire of (Central) Auditory Processing: a screening tool of auditory processing

Abstract

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ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to develop a screening questionnaire for auditory processing disorder (APD) targeted for the Maltese pediatric population.MethodThe questionnaire consisted of 25 close-ended questions in which parents rated their child's listening skills. The data was collected from 101 typically developing Maltese bilingual children and 30 children forming a clinical group, aged between 7;00 and 9;11 years.ResultsThe tool was found to be highly reliable with an internal consistency of 0.92 and test-retest reliability of 0.94. Significant differences emerged between normal and clinical groups (p = < 0.001). Correlational analysis demonstrated a significant correlation between the Questionnaire of (Central) Auditory Processing (QCAP) and the speech-in-noise test, Duration Patterns Test and tests of dichotic listening.ConclusionThe QCAP is potentially an effective screening tool for highlighting listening difficulties in Maltese children at risk of having APD.

Keywords

• auditory processing disorder
• listening difficulties
• screening tool
• questionnaire
• children