Sustained auditory attention ability in children based on the breathing mode

ABSTRACT Purpose: to analyze the auditory behavior and the performance in the Sustained Auditory Attention Ability Test (SAAAT) of children with different breathing modes. Methods: a total of 30 individuals (19 males and 11 females), ranging from seven to 11 years old, participated in the research. They were distributed into nasal-breathers, mouth-breathers, and oronasal-breathers groups. The Scale of Auditory Behaviors (SAB) questionnaire was applied to those responsible for the children, so as to characterize their auditory behavior. In the SAAAT, the following error patterns were analyzed: inattention, decreased vigilance, impulsivity, and total errors. For the inferential analysis, the Mann-Whitney, chi-square, and Kruskal-Wallis statistical tests were used. Results: the individuals with mouth- and oronasal-breathing modes had more complaints in the SAB questionnaire when compared with nasal-breathers. Regarding the SAAAT, it was found that the age group of seven to eight years was the one that had the worst performance in the test. The groups with oral and oronasal breathing had more errors, with a statistically significant difference between the groups for inattention and total errors. Conclusion: it can be concluded that individuals with oral and oronasal breathing had more complaints in the auditory behavior and worse performance in the SAAAT, especially for inattention and total errors.