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Purpose: In this study, the authors investigated the relationships between 3 tests used to screen for (central) auditory processing disorder ([C]APD)-the Children's Auditory Performance Scale (CHAPS; W. J. Smoski, M. A. Brunt, & J. C. Tannahill, 1998), the Screening Instrument for Targeting Educational Risk (SIFTER; K. Anderson, 1989), and the Test of Auditory Perceptual Skills-Revised (TAPS-R; M. Y. Gardner, 1997)- and 4 tests used to diagnostically assess for (C)APD: Low-Pass Filtered Speech (LPFS), Competing Sentences (CS), Two-Pair Dichotic Digits (DD), and Frequency Patterns With Linguistic Report (FP).
Method: The screening and diagnostic (C)APD tests results of 104 children (71 boys, 33 girls) aged 6.9-14.3 years were reviewed following their attendance at a university clinic in Brisbane, Australia.
Results: Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficient analysis showed weak (r = .22, p < .05) to moderate (r = .47, p < .01) correlations predominantly between the short-term and working memory test results of the TAPS-R and the DD and FP test results of the (C)AP test battery. Linear and binary logistic regression analyses showed a poor ability of the CHAPS, SIFTER, and TAPS-R test results to predict the individual LPFS, CS, DD, or FP test results or the overall risk for (C)APD.
Conclusion: The CHAPS, SIFTER, and TAPS-R should be used to highlight concerns about a child but not to determine whether a diagnostic (C)AP assessment is particularly warranted.
KEY WORDS: (central) auditory processing disorder, screening, diagnosis
Recent interest in the potential links between (central) auditory processing disorder ([C]APD) and difficulties in areas such as language, learning, and communication has resulted in increase in the number of children being screened and subsequently referred for (central) auditory processing ([C]AP) assessment. In this study, we investigated the ability of some commonly used screening tools to predict the level of (C)AP skills and the level of risk for (C)APD in a large group of school children.
Although several definitions of (C)APD have been offered in the literature, possibly the most cited have been those of theWorking Group on Auditory Processing Disorders within the American Speech-Language- Hearing Association (ASHA;Wilson, Heine,& Harvey, 2004). In its latest technical report (ASHA, 2005, p. 2), the group states that (C)APD refers to difficulties in the perceptual processing of auditory information in the central nervous system...