Background: A standardized anamnestic questionnaire of central auditory processing disorders ("Anamnestischer Erhebungs- und Beobachtungsbogen für auditive Verarbeitungs- und Wahrnehmungsstörungen") (FB-AVWS) was developed by German paedaudiologists. The present study examined the relations between this questionnaire and the results of selected auditory-perceptual tests to evaluate the validity of the FB-AVWS.
Subjects and method: As part of a multicentric study, 113 pupils in primary schools were examined by the "Heidelberger Lautdifferenzierungstest", a test of phonemic discrimination and identification (HLAD). Additionally, the parents answered the FB-AVWS. Sensitivity, specificity and correlations with the FB-AVWS were determined referred to the HLAD.
Results: We found significant, though moderate correlations, between the scale "auditory discrimination" of the FB-AVWS and the subtests "kinaesthetic/phonemic identification" and "phonemic analysis" of the HLAD. The other subscales of the FB-AVWS showed no significant correlations with the HLAD and its several subtests. The values for the sensitivity of the FB-AVWS were relatively high (93 and 100 %) as where the negatively predictive values for the HLAD as a whole and the subscale 1B (98 and 100 %), referred to HLAD. The specificity and the positive values were relatively low for the HLAD as a whole and for several of its subtests.
Conclusion: The FB-AVWS is a useful supplementation for the complementary clinical evaluation of central auditory disorders. It allows an assessment of the child's auditory perception and processing skills compared to the general population of primary school children. However, it is not valid as a screening or diagnostic instrument.