Behavioral assessment of auditory processing in adulthood: population of interest and tests - a systematic review.
Pamela Papile Lunardelo, Marisa Tomoe Hebihara Fukuda, Ana Cecília Grilli Fernandes Stefanelli and 1 others
PMID 37132698WHAT IT FOUND
Most adults with conditions like diabetes or noise exposure show poorer auditory processing than healthy peers.
However, few studies track how these skills decline with normal aging, and diagnostic criteria vary widely, making it hard to compare results across clinics.
Key findings
0194.1% of case-control studies found that groups with conditions like diabetes, stuttering, or noise exposure performed worse on auditory processing tests than healthy controls.
02Only three studies examined how auditory processing changes with age in healthy adults, all finding that older adults performed worse than younger ones on speech-in-noise tasks.
03There is no standard protocol for assessing central auditory processing in adults, with over 20 different behavioral tests used and inconsistent application of complementary assessments like questionnaires or electrophysiology.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The review includes a heterogeneous mix of conditions, making it difficult to generalize findings to a single patient population. Only three studies addressed normal aging in healthy adults, leaving a significant gap in understanding how auditory processing changes with age independent of pathology. The lack of standardized diagnostic criteria across the included studies means that 'positive' findings are not directly comparable between clinics. Few studies screened for cognitive status, so some reported auditory deficits may actually be driven by mild cognitive decline.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a single behavioral test score confirms central auditory processing disorder in adults. The review shows that diagnostic criteria are inconsistent and that cognitive factors are often not controlled for, meaning a poor test result might reflect attention or memory issues rather than a primary auditory deficit.