Methodological Framework for Adapting Pediatric Speech Hearing Tests Across Languages Standardizing the Mainzer Audiometric Test for Children MATCH

What this Trial Is About

This research aims to develop a universal method for adapting speech audiometry tests into different languages, focusing on children. Speech audiometry is commonly used to assess hearing in children, but many languages lack suitable test materials. This study introduces the first comprehensive protocol that systematically addresses linguistic, phonological, and audiological factors to adapt and standardize the Mainzer Audiometric Test for Children MATCH for other languages. The adaptation process includes six phases selecting and validating test items for recognizability among children, ensuring linguistic accuracy by comparing phoneme distributions, recording speech materials in a sound-treated environment following ISO standards, equalizing item intelligibility through adult speech recognition tests, standardizing the test on normal-hearing children aged 3 to 6 years, and evaluating diagnostic validity by comparing speech recognition thresholds with pure-tone audiometry in clinical samples. The study also uses ROC analysis to determine sensitivity, specificity, and optimal cutoffs for detecting hearing loss. Participants include children aged 2 to 7 years with either normal hearing or stable sensorineural hearing loss, divided into age groups for testing. The study involves assessments such as speech recognition testing, pure-tone audiometry, and tympanometry. Researchers monitor test-retest reliability and diagnostic performance over about one year. The primary outcome is the correlation between adapted MATCH speech recognition thresholds and pure-tone audiometry thresholds. Secondary outcomes include diagnostic accuracy and test consistency.

Adaptation of Pediatric Speech Audiometry Tests Into Other Languages