C Völter1, W Shehata-Dieler, R Baumann, J Helms. 1. Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität, Klinik und Poliklinik für Hals-, Nasen- und Ohrenkranke, Würzburg. voelter.martinez@t-online.de
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Speech audiometry plays an important role for hearing evaluation in children. Hearing impaired children, such as those with cochlear implant (CI) who frequently undergo testing, learn the test words by heart. Furthermore, the standard tests use words of former time. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using the most frequently words of modern children's literature a speech assessment test was developed for children between 1 to 8 years. The material was first evaluated on normal hearing children. In a second step the phoneme and word perception scores of 35 CI children were measured using 60 - 100 dB SPL according to the most comfortable level (MCL) in free sound field. RESULTS: The performance-intensity function for the single words were highly comparable with those of the Freiburger or Göttinger speech perception test. The average speech reception threshold in CI children was 44 % (test I), 36 % (test II), 63 % (test III) and 69 % (test IV), respectively. Compared to the Mainzer and Göttinger speech perception test the new words were more difficult to understand than those of the known tests. However, a statistically significant difference could be noted only for test II. CONCLUSIONS: The new developed "Würzburger speech perception test" appears to be a useful additional tool for the evaluation of hearing impaired children in addition to the standard test procedures.
BACKGROUND: Speech audiometry plays an important role for hearing evaluation in children. Hearing impairedchildren, such as those with cochlear implant (CI) who frequently undergo testing, learn the test words by heart. Furthermore, the standard tests use words of former time. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using the most frequently words of modern children's literature a speech assessment test was developed for children between 1 to 8 years. The material was first evaluated on normal hearing children. In a second step the phoneme and word perception scores of 35 CI children were measured using 60 - 100 dB SPL according to the most comfortable level (MCL) in free sound field. RESULTS: The performance-intensity function for the single words were highly comparable with those of the Freiburger or Göttinger speech perception test. The average speech reception threshold in CI children was 44 % (test I), 36 % (test II), 63 % (test III) and 69 % (test IV), respectively. Compared to the Mainzer and Göttinger speech perception test the new words were more difficult to understand than those of the known tests. However, a statistically significant difference could be noted only for test II. CONCLUSIONS: The new developed "Würzburger speech perception test" appears to be a useful additional tool for the evaluation of hearing impairedchildren in addition to the standard test procedures.