Auditory processing disorder (APD): knowledge and practice in hearing healthcare
Reviewed by Charlotte Rogers

Awareness and practice for children and adults presenting with APD is variable across healthcare practice. Recently reported experiences of individuals and their families affected by APD show difficulty accessing referral and overall lack of recognition, and note that audiologists show preference for the prescription of devices such as assistive listening devices (ALDs) as management strategies in contemporaneous studies in the US. Authors suggest considerable inconsistencies and disparities exist in UK practice. This disparity sits across the whole care pathway from referral to diagnostic, assessment and management strategies. Survey questions sought out clinical opinion from audiology and ENT colleagues on perceptions of the following: awareness, screening and ongoing diagnosis and management, and interestingly, professionals’ acceptance of APD. Although having a total reach of over 3500 members, surveying professional body members yielded under 200 viable responses. Survey responses from the audiologist or non-medic grouping vastly outnumbered those from ENT. Thematic analysis of survey results primarily indicates a lack or complete absence of APD services in departments alongside other emerging themes of limited knowledge, lack of standards and guidance, access to relevant tools and materials in the care of children and adults with APD. Issues regarding awareness, access and diagnosis were variable and reliant on multiple factors, such as clinician scope of practice and belief in the impact of APD symptoms on individuals who report this experience. Where APD services are available, most respondents reported the use of pure tone audiometry, tympanometry and history discussion for adults, further listening or auditory processing assessment for children. Management approaches were less reported (36%), consisting of methods such as auditory training, communication repair strategies and modification to the listening environment. Conclusions suggest a significant gap in active involvement in APD, counterintuitive to respondents’ views on the importance of APD diagnosis.

Auditory processing disorder: an online survey of hearing healthcare professionals’ knowledge and practices.
Bernard MW, Koohi N, Bamiou DE.
INT J AUDIOL
2025;64(2)121–30.