Development and Standardization of Sentences for Speech in Noise Test in Malayalam

Abstract

The present study aimed to develop and standardize sentences for speech in noise test in Malayalam language for children and adults. A total of 500 Malayalam words were selected and evaluated for familiarity. Using 300 most familiar words, 150 syntactically and semantically correct sentences were constructed. These sentences were familiarized again by five qualified speech language pathologists. 105 most familiar sentences were carefully chosen and randomly assigned to 15 lists of seven sentences each. A four talker speech babble was added to these sentences at different SNR levels, from +5 to -10 dB SNR in 2.5 dB steps. The speech babble was added in such a way that the first sentence in each list had maximum SNR and last sentence had minimum SNR. The speech perception in noise ability was assessed on 120 normal hearing participants (60 adults and 60 children). The perceptual SNR-50 was calculated for each list, based on the perceptual scores obtained by each participant, separately for children and adults. Statistical analysis revealed that the perceptual scores for some lists were found to be significantly different from other lists, and hence, those lists were excluded from the final test. After removing these lists, seven lists were selected for children and adults, separately. The mean SNR-50 was -4.671 dB for children and -6.357 dB for adults. Reliability and internal validity results showed that the test is reliable and valid to assess speech perception in noise abilities in children as well as in adults.