Reliability measure of a clinical test: Appreciation of Music in Cochlear Implantees (AMICI)

The goals of this study were (1) to investigate the reliability of a clinical music perception test, Appreciation of Music in Cochlear Implantees (AMICI), and (2) examine associations between the perception of music and speech. AMICI was developed as a clinical instrument for assessing music perception in persons with cochlear implants (CIs). The test consists of four subtests: (1) music versus environmental noise discrimination, (2) musical instrument identification (closed-set), (3) musical style identification (closed-set), and (4) identification of musical pieces (open-set). To be clinically useful, it is crucial for AMICI to demonstrate high test-retest reliability, so that CI users can be assessed and retested after changes in maps or programming strategies.

Thirteen CI subjects were tested with AMICI for the initial visit and retested again 10-14 days later. Two speech perception tests (consonant-nucleus-consonant [CNC] and Bamford-Kowal-Bench Speech-in-Noise [BKB-SIN]) were also administered.

Test-retest reliability and equivalence of the test's three forms were analyzed using paired t-tests and correlation coefficients, respectively. Correlation analysis was also conducted between results from the music and speech perception tests.

Results showed no significant difference between test and retest (p > 0.05) with adequate power (0.9) as well as high correlations between the three forms (Forms A and B, r = 0.91; Forms A and C, r = 0.91; Forms B and C, r = 0.95). Correlation analysis showed high correlation between AMICI and BKB-SIN (r = -0.71), and moderate correlation between AMICI and CNC (r = 0.4).

The study showed AMICI is highly reliable for assessing musical perception in CI users.