Quality of life of children with poor school performance: association with hearing abilities and behavioral issues

ABSTRACT The aim of the present study was to investigate the quality of life of children with poor school performance and its association with behavioral aspects and hearing abilities. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study, developed in a town in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, investigated a random sample of public school children, aged 7-12 years old, who performed poorly in school and received specialized educational assistance. The study comprised two stages: 1) collection of data from parents on their children's health, educational, and socioeconomic profile, and from the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; 2) administration of a quality of life evaluation scale to the schoolchildren. For the assessment of auditory function, transient otoacoustic emissions were used and auditory processing was tested. The following tests were used: verbal sequential memory, nonverbal sequential memory, sound localization, dichotic digits, duration pattern test (flute) and random gap detection. The collected data were analyzed using Excel and STATA 11.0 software. Quality of life was considered the response variable. The explanatory variables were grouped for univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis with the level of significance set at 5%. Results: A statistically significant association was found between impaired quality of life, altered pro-social behavior, and the absence of parental complaints about the children's written language development. Conclusions: Quality of life is impaired in children with poor school performance. The lack of parental complaints about written language and changes in social behavior increased the likelihood of a child having a poor quality of life.

摘要
本研究旨在探究学业表现不佳儿童的生活质量，及其与行为特征及听觉能力的关联。方法：本横断面观察研究于巴西米纳斯吉拉斯州某城镇开展，针对7至12岁、学业表现不佳且接受特殊教育帮扶的公立学校儿童进行随机抽样。研究分为两个阶段：1）向家长收集儿童健康、教育与社会经济背景资料，并采用长处与困难问卷（Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire）开展评估；2）对在校儿童实施生活质量评定量表测评。在听觉功能评估环节，采用瞬态诱发性耳声发射（transient otoacoustic emissions）检测，并进行听觉处理测试，所用测试包括：言语序列记忆测试、非言语序列记忆测试、声音定位测试、双耳分听数字测试（dichotic digits）、时长模式测试（长笛范式）以及随机间隙检测测试。研究采用Excel与STATA 11.0软件对收集的数据进行分析，以生活质量作为因变量，将解释变量分组开展单变量与多变量logistic回归分析，显著性水平设定为5%。结果：本研究发现，生活质量受损、亲社会行为异常与家长未就儿童书面语言发育问题提出投诉三者间存在统计学意义上的显著关联。结论：学业表现不佳儿童的生活质量存在受损情况。家长未投诉儿童书面语言发育问题，以及其社会行为出现改变，均会提升儿童生活质量较差的风险。