Comparison of auditory temporal processing ability between children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and normal children aged 7 to 12 years using Gaps-In-Noise test

Auditory temporal processing is an important ability of central auditory nervous system which has a basic role in speech and language development. It seems that the ability of such processing is deficient in children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in comparison to normal children. So, the aim of this study was to compare the auditory temporal processing ability in children with ADHD and normal children using Gaps-In-Noise (GIN) test. In this cross sectional comparative study, 27 ADHD children aged from 7 to 12 years were selected using convenient sampling method. The control group was paired according to the age and sex. Gaps-In-Noise (GIN) test was administered to assess temporal processing and approximate threshold (A.th.) and the percentage of correct responses were calculated for all participants. Nonparametric (Mann Whitney) test was used to compare GIN test parameters between two groups. Paired t test was used to compare the result of two ears in each group. The mean approximate threshold and percentage of correct responses in ADHD group were7/9(2/55) ms, 53/21(12/87) % and in the control group were5/42(0/96) ms and 65/4(6/65) %, respectively. ADHD group performed worse than control group and there were significant differences between two groups in test parameter values (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between right and left ear performance in both groups (p>0.05). Based on the findings of the current study, it seems that auditory temporal processing in ADHD children is deficient that might be due to a Central Auditory Nervous System dysfunction. So GIN test can be useful in examining such processing in children with ADHD.