CHANGES IN SHORT-TERM AUDITORY MEMORY FOLLOWING THE USE OF EDULINK IN CHILDREN WITH AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDERS

Umat C (1), Zamratol-Mai Sarah Mukari S (1), Farhana Badrul Ezan N (1), Normah Che’ Din C (2).

(1) Department of Audiology & Speech Sciences, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; (2) Health Psychology Unit, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The study examined the changes in auditory memory following the use of Edulink system in children with auditory processing disorders (APD). Fifty three children between seven to nine years old participated in the study with 15 as control group (not fitted with Edulink), and 19 in the unilateral and bilateral-Edulink groups, respectively. Subjects wore the Edulink during school time (4-5 hours per day) for 12 weeks. Subjects were measured on their working memory (WM), best learning (BL) and retention of information (ROI) using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) at pre-, post- (after 12 weeks Edulink usage) and at long-term (after not using Edulink for 1 year). Between-group scores for the WM, BL and ROI were not significantly different at baseline (p>0.05). Subjects in the fitting groups showed consistent improvement in the mean scores for BL and ROI at post- and long-term, however, only the mean scores at long-term were significantly higher than at pre-fitting (p<0.01). For the WM, there was randomness in scoring pattern between subject groups. There was no significant difference in performance between unilateral and bilateral groups. The findings suggest the use of Edulink might give a long-term effect on improving selected short-term auditory memories of some APD children.

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