Dichotic listening training, compensatory strategies and combined therapies on listening abilities of pupils with auditory processing disorders

• Register: ISRCTN
• Last refreshed on: 20 November 2017
• Main ID: ISRCTN14142433
• Date of registration: 17/10/2017
• Prospective Registration: No
• Primary sponsor: University of Ibadan
• Public title: Dichotic listening training, compensatory strategies and combined therapies on listening abilities of pupils with auditory processing disorders
• Scientific title: Effects of dichotic listening training, compensatory strategies and combined therapies in managing pupils with auditory processing disorders
• Date of first enrolment: 22/01/2015
• Target sample size: 460
• Recruitment status: Completed
• URL: http://isrctn.com/ISRCTN14142433
• Study type: Interventional
• Study design: Multicentre randomised controlled trial (Treatment)

Countries of recruitment

Nigeria

Contacts

• Name: Ayo Osisanya

Key inclusion & exclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Pupils identified with listening difficulty without a hearing loss
2. Pupils presenting with auditory processing problems
3. Puils with normal hearing abilities of between 0-25dB
4. Pupils with difficulty hearing in competing background noise or environmental noise
5. Pupils without glue ear
6. Pupils within the age range of 7 years 0 months - 11 years 11 months
Exclusion criteria: 1. Pupils with evidence of hearing loss, intellectual disability and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
2. Pupils whose Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) scores on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC IV) are lower than 90
3. Pupils whose scores on the Random Gap Detection Test (RGDT) are less than 20ms
4. Pupils whose scores are less than -0.01 on the Children's Auditory Processing Performance Scale (CHAPPS)
5. Pupils with reading disability

Age minimum:
Age maximum:
Gender: Both

Health Condition(s) or Problem(s) studied

Auditory processing disorders
Ear, Nose and Throat

Intervention(s)

The design of the study was a randomised controlled trial of intervention, with a 4x2x2 factorial matrix. It is an interventional study that includes random allocation of subjects into any of the three intervention groups (Dichotic Listening Training, Compensatory Strategies, Combined Therapies) or the control group of no treatment, and random allocation of the interventions to the groups. The study is a multicentre study conducted in both the home and the school environment of the subjects, i.e. in the natural environment of the subjects.

The samples for this study were 80 pupils (male and female) attending primary schools in Ibadan, who were classified as having APD without any co-morbid conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or reading disability, and in the absence of Otitis media and hearing loss. The study made use of Multistage sampling technique and purposive sampling technique to select the participants for the study. At first, the sus-participants were screened out from the list of pupils with reported listening difficulties in selected schools in Ibadan. The selected schools were schools located on the highway, close to sources of environmental sounds. The selected schools were St. Michaels Primary School, Apata, Ibadan, and C&S New Eden Primary School, Mokola, Ibadan. Some sus-participants were also recruited on private interactions and independent practice. A total of 460 pupils were nominated at this stage. Thereafter, audiological tests were performed on these, in order to determine their hearing abilities.

First, otoscopy was performed on these individuals to determine the status of their outer ear, i.e. if the middle ear was filled with fluid that interfered with adequate listening. A total of 64 sus-participants were screened out at this stage, as such were found having impacted wax in their outer ear, which could affect their hearing perception. Secondly, the pure-tone audiometry was carried out on these individuals in ord

Primary Outcome(s)

Listening ability (listening ability without background noise, listening ability with background noise, and sound localisation ability), measured using verbal information/response of the participants before and after each intervention

Secondary Outcome(s)

Self-esteem, measured using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale at baseline

Secondary ID(s)

Ad 13/479

Source(s) of Monetary Support

University of Ibadan