Validation of the Mandarin versions of CAP and SIR

The present study aims to develop the Mandarin versions of Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP) and Speech Intelligibility of Rating (SIR), verify their reliability and validity, and establish standardized values of the Mandarin CAP and SIR. In doing that it will provide an effective tool for evaluating the auditory skills and speech production of Mandarin-speaking hearing-impaired children.

The preliminary Mandarin versions of the CAP and SIR were determined using the back-translation method and then administered to 191 cases aged 0-6 years. A pre-test was conducted on the Mandarin-speaking hearing children, and according to the pre-test and data analysis, the questionnaires were perfected. Formal questionnaires were administered to 103 Mandarin speakers aged 0-6 years, to get the test-retest reliability and inter-rater reliability. A test was conducted on 60 Mandarin-speaking children aged 0-2 years and 60 Mandarin-speaking children aged 3-6 years to get the criterion validity of the CAP and SIR. A total of 5059 Mandarin-speaking typically hearing children aged 0-6 years in China were finally selected for the CAP and SIR assessment to calculate the CAP and SIR scores for each age group.

Pre-test data showed a strong positive significant correlation between age and the scores of CAP and SIR, respectively (r1 = 0.817, p < 0.01; r2 = 0.836, p < 0.01). In terms of test-retest reliability, the two CAP scores were significantly and positively correlated (r = 0.981, p < 0.01), and the two SIR scores were also significantly and positively correlated (r = 0.983, p < 0.01). With regard to the inter-rater reliability, the two CAP scores (r = 0.983, p < 0.01), and the two SIR scores (r = 0.997, p < 0.01) were both significantly and positively correlated. As for the criterion validity, CAP and the two efficacy scores were highly significantly correlated (r = 0.721, p < 0.01) and a significant positive correlation (r = 0.283, p < 0.05); along the same lines SIR and the two efficacy scores were both highly significantly correlated (r1 = 0.698, p1<0.01; r2 = 0.428, p2 < 0.01). Standardized values (Mean CAP and SIR scores of each age group) of the Mandarin CAP and SIR were provided.

The Mandarin versions of the CAP and SIR are reliable and valid as tools to assess the hearing and speech ability in Mandarin-speaking children. The Mandarin standardized values are helpful to monitor the rehabilitation outcome of hearing-impaired children.