Masking Level Difference: Performance of School Children Aged 7-12 Years

Author(s)

de Carvalho, Nadia Giulian ^[1] ; Ramos do Amaral, Maria Isabel ^[2] ; de Barros, Vinicius Zuffo ^[3] ; Colella dos Santos, Maria Francisca ^{[2, 1]}

Affiliation

^[1] Pediat Res Ctr, Child & Adolescent Hlth, 126 Univ City Zeferino Vaz, BR-13083894 Campinas, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Estadual Campinas, Sch Med Sci, Dept Human Dev & Rehabil, Sao Paulo - Brazil

^[3] Sao Paulo Res Fdn, Tech Training, Sao Paulo - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: JOURNAL OF AUDIOLOGY AND OTOLOGY; v. 25, n. 2, p. 65-71, APR 2021.
• Web of Science Citations: 1

Abstract

Background and Objectives: In masking level difference (MLD), the masked detection threshold for a signal is determined as a function of the relative interaural differences between the signal and the masker. Study 1 analyzed the results of school-aged children with good school performance in the MLD test, and study 2 compared their results with those of a group of children with poor academic performance. Subjects and Methods: Study 1 was conducted with 47 school-aged children with good academic performance (GI) and study 2 was carried out with 32 school-aged children with poor academic performance (GII). The inclusion criteria adopted for both studies were hearing thresholds within normal limits in basic audiological evaluation. Study 1 also considered normal performance in the central auditory processing test battery and absence of auditory complaints and/or of attention, language or speech issues. The MLD test was administered with a pure pulsatile tone of 500 Hz, in a binaural mode and intensity of 50 dBSL, using a CD player and audiometer. Results: In study 1, no significant correlation was observed, considering the influence of the variables age and sex in relation to the results obtained in homophase (SoNo), antiphase (S pi No) and MLD threshold conditions. The final mean MLD threshold was 13.66 dB. In study 2, the variables did not influence the test performance either. There was a significant difference between test results in S pi No conditions of the two groups, while no differences were found both in SoNo conditions and the final result of MLD. Conclusions: In study 1, the cut-off criterion of school-aged children in the MLD test was 9.3 dB. The variables (sex and age) did not interfere with the MLD results. In study 2, school performance did not differ in the MLD results. GII group showed inferior results than GI group, only in S pi No condition.\& nbsp; (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 17/03317-6 - Screening of central auditory processing in schoolchildren online: performance of schoolchildren in the initial years of elementary education
• Grantee: Nádia Giulian de Carvalho
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate