[A normative study of auditory development in Mandarin-speaking infants].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate the development of auditory skills in Mandarin-speaking infants with normal hearing using IT-MAIS, set up normal comparison data for evaluating the auditory performance of children with hearing loss and provide a basis for establishing an appropriate hearing and speech rehabilitation program for them. METHODS: A total of 183 infants with Mandarin-speaking patents participated in this investigation which was conducted in Beijing, China. 160 infants aged from 1 to 36 months were finally included, whose hearing were considered normal according to the history collection, high-risk registers for hearing loss and hearing screening using DPOAE. All infants were divided into 8 groups with 20 infants in each group by their ages. They were 1 month, 2-3 months, 4-6 months, 7-9 months, 10-12 months, 13-18 months, 19-24 months and 25-36 months group. The IT-MAIS/MAIS were administered to evaluate their development of auditory skills. All statistical analyses were executed using the MATLAB R2010a. RESULTS: The detection scores improved with age and reached ceiling at 19 months in infants with normal hearing, the regression function for prediction of scores from age was score = 0.26×ln(age) + 0.23 and prediction of age from score was age = e([score-0.23])/0.26, r(2) = 0.93. The recognition scores also increased with age and reached ceiling at 24 months in infants with normal hearing, the regression function for prediction of scores from age was score = 0.26×ln(age)-0.07 and prediction of age from score was age = e([score+0.07])/0.34, r(2) = 0.93. The overall scores which combine the above two aspects augmented with age and reached ceiling at 22 months. The regression function for prediction of scores from age was score = 0.3×ln(age)+0.09 and prediction of age from score was age = e([score-0.09])/0.3, r(2) = 0.95. CONCLUSIONS: Auditory skills showed a growth trend with age in infants with normal hearing. Scores of different auditory skills can be predicted according to their age. Age can also be predicted according to their scores of different auditory skills.