[In adaptive measurement: Shortened Freiburg monosyllabic test vs. Oldenburg sentence test in noise]

Area of Science:

• Audiology
• Speech-language pathology
• Psychophysics

Background:

• Traditional Freiburg speech test uses a non-adaptive method for speech intelligibility.
• Adaptive level control precisely determines the 50% speech intelligibility threshold (50%-SVS).
• A shortened adaptive Freiburg monosyllabic test in noise (aFBE-S) was previously developed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the clinical applicability of a shortened aFBE-S using 3, 4, or 5 test lists.
• To compare the shortened aFBE-S with the adaptive Oldenburg sentence test (OLSA-S).
• To assess signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), test duration, and influencing factors like gender and measurement order.

Main Methods:

• Forty otologically healthy young adults (18-30 years) participated.
• Participants completed the shortened aFBE-S (3, 4, 5 lists) and OLSA-S in random order.
• Averaged SNRs, time taken, and effects of gender/order were analyzed.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in SNR values were found between the shortened aFBE-S (3, 4, 5 lists) and OLSA-S.
• The shortened aFBE-S demonstrated significantly faster performance and less variability compared to OLSA-S.
• Measurement order and gender did not significantly impact the results.

Conclusions:

• The shortened aFBE-S provides comparable speech intelligibility measures to OLSA-S in less time.
• The aFBE-S with 3 test lists is sufficient and recommended for clinical use.
• This adaptive test offers an efficient and reliable method for assessing speech intelligibility in noise.