Estonian words in noise test for children (EWINc)

Abstract

ObjectiveBased on the example of the Nederlandse Vereniging voor Audiologie (NVA)-lists (Bosman, 1989; Wouters et al., 1994) and in addition to the Estonian words-in-noise (EWIN) test for adults (Veispak et al., 2015), a words-in-noise test has been developed for Estonian children (EWINc). DesignTwo experimental steps were carried out: (1) selection and perceptual optimization of the monosyllables; construction of 14 lists, (2) an evaluation of the lists in normal hearing (NH) children both in noise and in quiet. Study sampleForty-three NH native speakers of Estonian (average age 7.9 years). ResultsThe reference psychometric curve for all lists combined both in noise and in quiet for NH children was determined, with the slope and speech reception threshold differing from the respective values of the Estonian adults in accordance with previous research. The 14 lists in noise as well as in quiet were proven to be of equal difficulty with very little variation in the SRTs averaged over the lists. ConclusionThe EWINc is a precise and reliable test for quantifying speech intelligibility in Estonian children.