Non-English Validation of the AzBio Sentence Test: A Systematic Review of Current Applications and Early Adoption...

To identify validated non-English versions of the AzBio Sentences and evaluate their development, validation processes, and current use in clinical and research settings.

PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus were systematically searched for studies involving non-English adaptations of the AzBio Sentences.

A systematic review was conducted. Articles were screened by 2 independent reviewers based on criteria related to test development and clinical application. Studies that cited non-English AzBio versions were also surveyed. Extracted data included development methodology, participant demographics, test structure, and funding sources. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used to assess study quality and publication bias.

Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria, identifying 4 validated non-English AzBio tests: French (FrBio), Spanish (S-AzBio), Mandarin Chinese (CMnBio), and Hebrew (HeBio). Each test utilized a 2-phase development model, similar to the original AzBio, though differences existed in corpus size, list length, and validation metrics. Despite the validation, clinical adoption remains limited; only 3 studies reported postoperative CI outcomes using HeBio or CMnBio. Linguistic analyses revealed variability in test difficulty within and across languages. Early evidence suggests promising utility, particularly for assessing speech recognition in noise, though usage is often confined to research contexts.

Non-English AzBio tests represent a critical step toward more inclusive and linguistically appropriate audiologic assessments. However, their limited clinical implementation and variability in linguistic complexity underscore the need for broader cross-linguistic validation and standardized adaptation protocols. These efforts are essential to improving access to effective speech recognition testing for diverse patient populations.