# Behavioral Assessment of Central Auditory Processing in Turner Syndrome

## TL;DR

This study examines hearing abilities in people with Turner syndrome, finding consistent auditory processing issues across age groups.

## Contribution

The study is the first to associate Turner syndrome's cytogenetic patterns with specific central auditory processing deficits.

## Key findings

- Auditory processing issues were found in four skills across all age groups with Turner syndrome.
- The Gaps in Noise Test showed statistically significant differences between age groups.
- Monosomy X cytogenetic pattern showed more auditory alterations but not statistically significant.

## Abstract

Introduction
 Turner syndrome (TS) affects ∼ 1 in 2,500 live births. The presence of hearing alterations is one of the comorbidities found in this syndrome.

Objective
 The present study aimed to evaluate the central auditory abilities in TS and to associate the alterations found with the cytogenetic pattern of the syndrome.

Methods
 We included children and adults aged 9 to 39 years old, diagnosed with TS, with numerical or structural alterations of sex chromosomes in their karyotype. A battery of behavioral tests of central auditory processing (CAP) was performed, including a test within the modalities: monoaural low-redundancy, dichotic listening, binaural interaction, and temporal processing (resolution and ordering). We studied auditory skills in the total sample and in the sample stratified by age, divided into groups: G1 (9 to 13 years old), G2 (14 to 19 years old), and G3 (20 to 31 years old). For the association of the cytogenetic pattern, the division was T1 (chromosome monosomy X), and T2 (other TS cytogenetic patterns). Statistical analysis presented data expressed as median and interquartile range for numerical data and as frequency and percentage for categorical data.

Results
 We found alterations in four auditory skills in the three age groups, but there was a statistically significant difference between the age groups only in the
Gaps in Noise Test
(GIN) (
p
-value = 0.009). Regarding karyotype, a greater number of alterations in the T1 cytogenetic pattern (chromosome monosomy X) was observed in four auditory skills, but without a statistically significant difference.

Conclusion
 The alterations found point to an impairment in CAP in TS.