Hearing testing in autistic spectrum disorder: is it unnecessary in low and middle-income countries?

Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal = La Revue De Santé De La Méditerranée Orientale = Al-Majallah Al-ṣiḥḥīyah Li-sharq Al-mutawassiṭ
Adel Zeglam, Samah Al-Ksaik

Abstract

In low and middle-income countries where the health care is in a weakened state, spending money on unaffordable and probably unnecessary investigations might be substituted by a reliable, simple and more informative tool that can deal with the problem. To examine current medical practice of measuring auditory brainstem response for all children with autistic spectrum disorder, and assess the value of this test in these children and its applicability in low and middle-income countries such as Libya. We reviewed the medical records of all children with autistic spectrum disorder who presented to neurodevelopment clinics of Al-Khadra Teaching Hospital, Tripoli, Libya between January 2010 and December 2014. In 71 of 2368 children with autistic spectrum disorder, the family were concerned about their children's hearing and reaction to loud noises. Auditory brainstem response confirmed that 26 of these 71 children had sensorineural hearing loss. We consider auditory brainstem response measurement to be unnecessary in children with autistic spectrum disorder without clinical signs suggesting hearing impairment and without any parental concerns about hearing.

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Autism

Autism spectrum disorder is associated with challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, and often accompanied by sensory sensitivities and medical issues. Here is the latest research on autism.

Auditory Perception

Auditory perception is the ability to receive and interpret information attained by the ears. Here is the latest research on factors and underlying mechanisms that influence auditory perception.

Related Papers

Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Lionel Bailly
Ryōikibetsu shōkōgun shirīzu
Kosuke Yamazaki
Public Health
E A Frommer
© 2021 Meta ULC. All rights reserved