Auditory Brainstem Response Testing in Children with Speech and Language Pathology: A Non-Randomized Observational Study.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to compare auditory brainstem response (ABR) findings of normal-hearing preschool children with different types of speech and language pathology.

Methods: This retrospective, non-randomized, cohort study was conducted at a tertiary speech and hearing rehabilitation institution according to STROBE guidelines. The study enrolled 123 preschool children diagnosed with speech language pathology and normal hearing. The participants included children with developmental language disorder, autism spectrum disorder, isolated articulation pathology, organic brain lesions, cognitive delay, and a group of very young children with clinically significant speech development delay. All patients underwent standard ABR procedures.

Results: The latencies were the longest in the group of children with organic lesion, followed by the group of children with autism spectrum disorder, then the group with developmental language disorder, and the young children group. In the group of children with articulation pathology and the cognitive delay group, the latencies were the shortest.

Conclusion: This study showed a connection between several groups of children with language pathology that includes comprehension problems and prolongation of ABR latencies.