Evaluating the reliability and validity of phonetic information test in normal 3-6 year-old children of Isfahan city

Abstract

Introduction: Speech sound disorder is one of the most prevalent developmental communication disorders affecting approximately 8.7 percent of school-age children. Speech sound disorders require precise diagnosis and assessment which can be reached via formal and informal evaluations. Speech-language pathologists generally use the Phonetic Information Test to detect the disordered pronunciation of sounds. Unfortunately, the reliability and validity of this test have not been determined yet. The purpose of the present study was to test the reliability and validity of Phonetic Information Test as the first stage of its standardizing. Materials and Methods: At the first phase of this descriptive and methodological study, the content validity of the test was determined through quantifying the comments of 20 speech-language pathologists. Then, 150 children with the age range of 3 to 6 years were evaluated using the test and their scores were statistically analyzed by the two methods of Kuder-Richardson 20 and test-retest correlation to determine the reliability of the test. Data analysis was performedviaSPSS13. Results: The CVR value for words was higher than 42percent except for /kaeʧae/. Kuder-Richardson20 and correlation coefficient results in the three age groups demonstrated that the test has appropriate reliability. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the phonetic test meets validity and reliability requirements and, therefore, is sufficiently accurate to be used in the diagnosis and assessment of articulation impairments. Keywords: Reliability, Validity, Phonetic information test