Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of disorders characterized by abnormal social behavior, poor communication, repetitive behaviors and atypical response to sensory information, poor auditory brainstem function in ASD could be correlated to language impairment in (ASD).
Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the abnormalities in auditory brain stem response to speech stimuli among ASD children.
Patients and Methods: This case-control study was carried out from January 2019 to December 2019. The study included 21 children with autism and 30 children in a normal control group, the mean age of patients and control was comparable, respectively (4.16 ± 1.09, 4.85 ± 1.42) with males predominate in both groups. We used DSM-V-TR criteria, Stanford-Binet intelligence scale V and childhood autism rating scale (CARS) for assessments. All children were assessed in the audiology unit as follows, basic audiological evaluation, tympanometry, Click evoked Auditory Brainstem Response to confirm the presence of wave V and Speech Evoked Auditory Brainstem Response (S-ABR). Data were analyzed by IBM SPSS version 20.0, using Chi-Square, Fisher's Exact Test, and the Mann-Whitney U Test.
Results: ABR latency of wave V (6.36 ± 0.29) and wave A (7.41 ± 0.29 ) were detected in the patients' group, in comparison to the control group, with a significant delay (p < 0.001). ABR latency of wave D in patients with mild to moderate autism was delayed in comparison to patients with severe autism with a significant difference (p= 0.03) ABR latency of wave V, A, C, and O, in patients with severe autism, was delayed in comparison to patients with mild to moderate autism with no significant difference respectively, (p=0.85, p=0.624, P=0.94, p=0.652). ABR latency of wave E and F, in patients with mild to moderate autism, was delayed in comparison to patients with severe autism with no significant difference respectively (p=0.143, p=0.066).
Conclusion: (S-ABR) is very promising in the evaluation of children with (ASD) as regards the deficit in cognitive processing, attention, auditory discrimination