INTRODUCTION: Neurological or sensorial alterations, some of which are peripheral and/or central hearing alterations, are focused on both the people showing a low weight at birth (LW) and the presence of craniofacial malformation, such as labial palatine fissure (LPF). OBJECTIVE: Check and compare the results of hearing processing tests, Dichotic Listening Test (DLT) and Auditory Fusion Test-Revised (AFT-R) in LPF and LW children with those in children born with a normal weight and showing no LPF. METHODS: Retrospective comparative study with 73 records, in which sex, weight at birth, LPF presence/absence and the DLT and AFT-R results were verified. Three groups were formed based on the analysis of weight at birth and FLP absence/presence. RESULTS: For DLT, the Covariance Analysis did not present any difference between the groups and sexes; however the age covariant showed a statistically significant relation. Fort AFT-R, there was no difference between groups, sexes and ages. CONCLUSION: LPF AND LW children, however statistically insignificant, showed bigger modifications in the hearing processing tests in comparison with isolated LPF children and with children having neither this craniofacial malformation nor LW. It must as well be emphasized that an increase in age enhanced DDT performance.
auditory recognition; palatine fissure; hearing tests
