The Effects of the Early-onset Otitis Media on Cognitive Skills in Children: A Systematic Review

Objectives: Some children are at risk of middle ear infections; however, the impact of the fluctuating hearing sensations on cognitive systems and immature central auditory is not fully recognized. Therefore, we reviewed and discussed the impact of early-otitis media on the cognitive skills of affected school-aged children. Methods: A computerized search of the databases was conducted between January 2000 and December 2020 using the following keywords, including “otitis media” and “cognition” or “attention” or “memory” or “working memory” or “short term memory”. Results: After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria and appraising the quality, seven studies were included and the data were extracted. Some of the articles reported a relationship between otitis media with effusion (OME) and cognitive deficits in 5 years old children and the other studies did not yield significant association. Discussion: It seems that children with OME experience difficulties in attention and memory; though, the relationship between early childhood OME and cognitive skills in children at school ages is not yet definitive and need more comprehensive and well-organized studies

The Study of Language Performances of Persian Children With Specific Language Impairment

Background and Aim: Specific language impairment (SLI) is one of the most prevalent developmental language disorders which is less considered in Persian researches. The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in some morpho-syntactic features of speech and other language skills between Persian children with specific language impairment and their normal age-matched peers. Moreover, the usefulness of the test of language development-3 (TOLD-3), Persian version, as a tool in identifing Persian-speaking children with this impairment, was investigated.Methods: In a case-control study, the results of the test of language development and speech samples analysis of 13 Persian-speaking children (5 to 7 years old) with specific language impairment were compared with 13 age-matched normal children.Results: The results of this study showed that there were significant differences between the scores of specific language impairment group and control group in all measured aspects of the TOLD-3 (p<0.001); the children with specific language impairment had a shorter mean length of utterance (p<0.001) and made less use of functional words in their speech (p=0.002) compared with their peers.Conclusion: Such as specific language impairment children in other languages, all language abilities of Persian-speaking children with specific language impairment are less than expected stage for their age. Furthermore, the Persian version of TOLD-3 is a useful assessment instrument in identifying children with specific language impairment which is comparable to the other languages

Methodes for identification of specific language impairment

Background and Aim: Specific language impiarment (SLI) is one of the most prevalent developmental language disorders its diagnosis is a problematic issue among researchers and clinicians because of the heterogeneity of language profiles in the affected population and overlapping with other developmental language disorders. The aim of this study was to review the suggested diagnostic criteria for this disorder, controversies about these criteria and identify the most accurate diagnostic methods.Methods: Published article from 1980 to 2012 in bibliographic and publisher databases including Pubmed, Google scholar, Cochran library, Web of Science, ProQuest, Springer, Oxford, Science direct, Ovid, Iran Medex and Magiran about the diagnostic methods for discriminating preschoool children with specific language impiarment from normal developing children were reviewd in this article. These keywords were used for research: “specific language impairment”, “SLI”, “diagnosis or identification”, “standardized tests”, and “tests for language development”.Conclusion: The results of this study show inspite of agreement of researchers and clinicians about exclusionary criteria as one basic part of the diagnosis of specific language impiarment , there is no consensus about the other part, inclusionary criteria. Different studies used different inclusionary criteria which can be divided to categories of clincal judgment, discrepancy-based criteria, standardized testing, clinical markers and markers from spontaneous speech samples. Advantages, disadvantages, and clinical applicability of each diagnostic method are discussed in this article

Diagnostic Accuracy of the Photographic Expressive Persian Grammar Test to Identify 4-6 Years Old Children With Developmental Language Disorder

Objectives: Accurate diagnosis of Persian children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is regarded as a challenge for Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs) in Iran because of the lack of formal linguistic tests that can reliably distinguish language-impaired children from Typically-Developing (TD) children. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of the photographic expressive Persian Grammar Test (PEGT).  Methods: The participants were forty 4-6 years old monolingual Persian speakers who were categorized into two groups of DLD (n=20) and TD (n=20) children based on the MLU (mean length of utterance) scores as the reference standard and clinical judgment of an experienced speech-language pathologist. PEGT was administered to all participants, and the results were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test and Rock Chart (ROC) to estimate the ability of the PEGT to differentiate between children with DLD and TD and to determine its sensitivity, specificity, and the optimal cutoff point.  Results: The results revealed that children with DLD performed significantly lower than their TD peers in the PEGT (P<0.05). Both sensitivity and specificity measures of PEGT were estimated as 100% at the optimal cut-off point of 12.5.  Discussion: The data provide empirical support for the use of the PEGT for accurate diagnosis of preschool children with DLD from their TD peers

The Gross, Fine, and Oral Motor Functions in a Patient with Megalencephalic Leukoencephalopathy with Subcortical Cyst A Case Report: Motor functions in a Megalencephalic Leukoencephalopathy with Subcortical Cyst patient

&nbsp; Megalencephalic Leukoencephalopathy with Subcortical Cysts (MLC) is a rare autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder. As motor deficits are a core feature of MLC, we reported on the gross, fine and oral motor functions in a MLC1 patient. Our patient demonstrated macrocephaly, deterioration of motor functions with ataxia, spasticity and intellectual disability. In addition to medical interventions, the patient received rehabilitation interventions of occupational therapy and speech therapy. Brain structures were analyzed with magnitude resonance imaging (MRI), and gross, fine and oral motor functions were analyzed with Gross Motor Function Measurement (GMFM), Purdue Pegboard Test (PPT) and Oral Motor Assessment Scale (OMAS) at age 2, as well as after interventions at age 5. The results showed that although the motor functions did improve due to the interventions, the patient still had weaknesses in gross, fine and oral motor functions when compared to his peers. These findings emphasize the importance of early referral for rehabilitation of motor function in order to increase their independence, participation in daily life and quality of life

A systematic review on diagnostic procedures for specific language impairment: The sensitivity and specificity issues

Background: Identification of children with specific language impairment (SLI) has been viewed as both necessity and challenge. Investigators and clinicians use different tests and measures for this purpose. Some of these tests/measures have good psychometric properties, but it is not sufficient for diagnostic purposes. A diagnostic procedure can be used for identification a specific population with confidence only when its sensitivity and specificity are acceptable. In this study, we searched for tests/measures with predefined sensitivity and specificity for identification of preschool children with SLI from their typically developing peers. Materials and Methods: A computerized search in bibliographic databases from 2000 to August 2015 was performed with the following keywords: "specific language impairment" or SLI" and "primary language impairment" or ′PLI′ with at least one of the followings: "diagnosis," "identification," "accuracy," "sensitivity," and "specificity." In addition, the related citations and reference lists of the selected articles were considered. Results: The results of reviewing 23 included studies show that the index measures used in studies vary in accuracy with the sensitivity ranging from 16% to 100% and the specificity ranging from 14% to 100%. Conclusion: These varieties in sensitivity and specificity of different tests/measures confirm the necessity of attention to the diagnostic power of tests/measures before their use as diagnostic tool. Further, the results indicate there are some promising tests/measures that the available evidence supports their performances in the diagnosis of SLI in preschool-aged children, yet the place of a reference standard for the diagnosis of SLI is vacant among investigations

Comparing Theory of Mind Skills and Language Performance between Children with Developmental Language Disorder, High-Functioning Autism, and Typically Developing Children

Background and purpose: Theory of Mind (TOM) is a cognitive ability to understand the beliefs, emotions, and desires of oneself and others, and its development is associated with proper development of other cognitive skills, including language. This study aimed at investigating the relationship between language and TOM and comparing the grammatical and lexical performances and TOM skills between children with high-functioning autism (HFA) and developmental language disorder (DLD) and typically developing (TD) children. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out in 50 children aged 6-11 years old, native speakers of Persian language, with DLD (n= 14) and HFA (n= 11), and in TD (n= 25) children. Assessment of language skills was done by lexical and syntactic indicators obtained from the analysis of narrative speech sample and Persian grammar expression test (PEGT) and TOM skills using Persian mind theory test. Data were analyzed in SPSS V22 using ANOVA, Pearson Correlation, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman correlation. Results: There were no significant differences in most grammatical, lexical, and TOM scores between children with DLD and HFA (P0.05). Significant correlation was observed between overall scores and TOM and PEGT scores in all three groups (P< .05). Conclusion: The current study revealed that children with HFA and DLD have weaker TOM skills than TD children which could be due to their language deficits