Relationship between masking level difference test and acoustic reflex findings in children with phonological disorder

Abstract: PURPOSE: to investigate the findings of Masking Level Difference and acoustic reflex tests along with the composition of the phonological system of children with Phonological Disorder, to determine whether these associations can assist in understanding the process of acquisition of atypical language. METHODS: a quantitative, observational and descriptive study, developed through secondary survey of a database, consisting of speech therapy evaluations of 110 children with Phonological Disorder, ages 5 - 10 years. The inclusion criteria for this study required all prospective subjects to have undergone tympanometry with type A (Jerger) tympanogram as well as a Masking Level Difference test evaluation. RESULTS: data from 110 children, 57 suited inclusion criteria, population composition: (42 male and 15 female). Of the 57 children, 23 (40.3%) had normal Masking Level Difference results and 34 (59.7%) had altered results. The relationship between the Masking Level Difference test and the variables age, sex, degree of speech intelligibility, and the result of contralateral and ipsilateral acoustic reflex were not observed to be statistically significant. The relationship between phonological acquisition of the phonemes in initial and medial onset with the results of the Masking Level Difference test was found to be statistically significant with the non-acquisition of both early-onset phonemes / s / and /ʀ/ and /s/ e /z/ in medial onset observed in subjects with altered Masking Level Difference test results. CONCLUSION: other auditory processing abilities beyond the binaural interaction should be studied in order to identify their association with phonological disorder.