Interference control and selective attention ability among children with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD)

• Main Authors: Sulaiman, Nur Hafizah, Dzulkarnain, Ahmad Aidil Arafat, Maamor, Nashrah, Rahmat, Sarah
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English; English; English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: RF Otorhinolaryngology; RJ Pediatrics; RJ101 Child Health. Child health services
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/94989/1/Poster2abstract-book.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/94989/2/Poster%202%20Hafizah.Draft%203.FINAL.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/94989/3/for-website-BAA-programme.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/94989/

Introduction: In everyday life listening environment, the bottom-up auditory processing system and the top-down processing of executive functions work closely to suppress the irrelevant sound and help to focus on the relevant sound. The executive functions that help to achieve this goal are interference control and selective attention. Considering the importance of these executive functions, this study aimed to investigate the ability in inhibitory control and selective attention among normal and APD children, particularly in the event that attention deficit was also identified together with APD. Methods: This study was conducted among 79 normal hearing children, aged from 8 to 12 years old, with normal intelligence quotient (IQ) and working memory. These children were divided into normal and APD group. The children in each group were further categorized based on their attention status that was assessed through the SNAP-IV questionnaire, which are; i) normal attention; ii) attention deficit disorder (ADD) and iii) attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). To assess the ability in interference control and selective attention, the Stroop Task was conducted and the Stroop interference of percentage score and reaction time were calculated. Results: A significant reduction in the Stroop interference of percentage score was observed between APD children compared to normal children. The reduction was more prominent in an event which the APD children also have attention deficit. No significant difference in the Stroop interference of reaction time was observed between normal and APD children with and without attention deficit. Discussion: Children with APD have low Stroop interference indicates poor ability in interference control and selection ability. These abilities were further deteriorated in the event that the attention deficit was also identified. The poor ability in interference control and selective attention should be considered as a potential cause of difficulty to hear in background noise, which is commonly reported by APD patient.