Background: Children's reduced speech recognition abilities in noise may affect how well they learn in a noisy classroom, through both education and incidental learning. Various speech in noise tests in children have been developed to estimate the perception of speech in the presence of noise. This study was performed to develop a new Arabic open-set sentence material suitable for children aged 4 to 7 years using different types of noise.
Aims of the work: Development of a new Arabic LV-SIN test and its standardization on Arabic-speaking normal hearing children of age ranging from 4 to 7 years.
Studying the effect of different types of noise and sentence difficulty level on performance of children of different age groups.
Patient and methods: Sixty-six normal hearing children classified into three subgroups: Subgroup A: (4 to< 5 years), Subgroup B: (5 to< 6 years) Subgroup C: (6 to 7 years). They were tested using the newly developed LV-SIN test using white, multi-talker babble and story noise. The sentences were divided into nine lists, with three levels of difficulty. Scoring was done by measuring the SNR50 which is the level at which the child repeated 50% of the number of words per list.
Results: The majority of children reached SNR50 at -14 SNR in story noise, and -16 SNR in white noise and multi-talker babble noise. The mean average of number of trials until SNR50 score was reached was 2 - 3 in subgroup 1, and 3 - 4 in subgroups 2 and 3. There was statistically significant effect of age and list difficulty on SNR50 test scores. In contrast to white noise, multi-talker babble and story noise were able to segregate sentences based on difficulty level.
Conclusion: Arabic LV-SIN test was developed and standardized for assessment of speech perception in noise in pre-school age children with age ranging from 4 – 7 years. Age, type of noise and list difficulty had a significant effect on LV-SIN test scores.