Children who have had several middle ear infections before the age of 3 have a smaller vocabulary.
- Every ear infection can cause fluid to build up behind the eardrum.
- Children who often suffered from this middle ear infection before the age of 3 had less vocabulary.
- They also had difficulty detecting changes in sounds.
Ear infections are common in children. In a new study, researchers from the University of Florida (US) report that these temporary and repeated ear infections can lead to deficits in auditory processing and language development in children years later. Indeed, each ear infection can potentially impair hearing due to an accumulation of fluid behind the eardrum.
Evaluate the auditory function, lexical knowledge and phonological sensitivity of 117 children
To reach this conclusion, the team recruited 117 children aged 5 to 10, of whom 49 had a history of chronic ear infections before the age of 3 and 68 did not. As part of the work, the scientists used three tests to assess their language development and auditory processing. In one test, children had to detect which of three cartoon characters sounded different from the other two. This involved manipulating patterns of sound change, or amplitude, over time.
Then, they asked the young people to name the images presented to them to assess their vocabulary. Finally, children were asked to match words based on whether they began or ended with the same sound, a task essential not only to speech development but also to reading acquisition.
Chronic ear infections: children with a history have language acquisition problems
According to the results, published in the journal International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology, sustained attention was observed in both groups. However, younger participants with a history of ear infections performed worse on hearing and language measures. In detail, toddlers who had several ear infections before the age of three had a more restricted vocabulary. They also had more difficulty matching similar-sounding words. They also had difficulty detecting changes in sounds, which is a sign of problems in the auditory processing centers of their brains.
According to the authors, parents, doctors and speech therapists need to continue monitoring children long after the last infection during preschool age has disappeared. Some language deficits may not become apparent until later years. “As children progress through school, the language they need to use becomes more complex,” said Susan Nittrouer, lead author of the research, in a statement.
She explained that if ear infections are common and fluid builds up, tubes placed temporarily in the eardrum can help drain the fluid and restore hearing, which should reduce the risk of delayed development of the pathways. central hearing and reduce language acquisition problems.
