The time required for play audiometry in children affected by age and developmental level

Important information can be obtained by performing play audiometry in infants, but it is necessary to obtain data that are as reliable as possible within a short period of time. We investigated how the difficulty in employing these techniques and the reliability of the testing in children were affected by the ageclassified as 3 years, 3 to 6 years, and ≥6 years old)and the developmental levelclassified as normal development, developmental disorder, and intellectual disability, based on the time required to perform audiometry and the consistency between the results of hearing tests and the reactions to actual sound as an indicator of performance. Among the children with normal development, the reliability was 58% in those less than 3 years old, 88% in those aged 3 to 6 years old, and 95% in those ≥6 years old. In contrast, the time required to perform audiometry became considerably shorter as the age increased. When the consistency was investigated in relation to development, it was 41% in children less than 3 years old with intellectual disability, 58% in those with normal development, and 50% in those with developmental disorder. Among children aged 3 to ≥6 years old, the reliability of testing was 88% in those with normal development, 75% in those with developmental disorder, and 73% in those with intellectual disability. Among the children who were years old, the reliability of testing was higher than 90% in both those with developmental disorder and those with normal development, but only 77% in those with intellectual disability. Among the children who were less than 3 years old, the degree of mental development had no influence on the time required to perform audiometry. However, among children aged 3 to <6 years old and those aged years old, the time required to perform audiometry was significantly longer in those with intellectual disability than in those with developmental disorder or those with normal development. In conclusion, these findings revealed that good skills and considerable time may be required to perform audiometry in children less than 6 years old. In addition, a longer time and more advanced techniques may be required to perform this test in children with developmental disorder or intellectual disability.