Blickdiagnose Sprachverständnisstörungen – Die diagnostische Güte von Experten- und Elternurteilen

BACKGROUND: Receptive language disorders affect the whole language, cognitive and emotional development of children. There are inconsistent data about the percentage of receptive language disorders among speech and language impaired children. Furthermore receptive language disorders are likely underdiagnosed. Aim of the study is to quantify receptive language disorders in children with speech and language disorders. More specifically, a) to assess the frequency of receptive language disorders in a group of preschool children with expressive speech and language disorders b) evaluation of diagnostic quality of subjective diagnoses of receptive disorders by experts and parents and c) consequences for diagnostic and therapy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The percentage of children with receptive language disorders (n=298) was assessed by using a language development test (SETK). The prediction of the receptive language abilities by experts and parents was compared with the final test results. The diagnostic quality was evaluated with 2x2 tables and likelihood ratios. RESULTS: Ninety seven children showed limited receptive abilities (T-value<40). Parents predicted receptive language disorders correctly in 25 children, experts in 78. Likelihood ratios showed high evidence for diagnostic results of experts' judgement, whereas parents proved poor predictive capabilities. CONCLUSION: To correctly assess receptive language disorders in children with speech and language development disorders and to minimize negative consequences of incorrect diagnoses, multi-professional test-based diagnostic as well as clinical expertise is necessary. Parents’ subjective judgment is not predicitve for detection of receptive language disorders.