Evaluation of a Revised Speech in Noise (RSIN) test.

ABSTRACT

A revised version of the Speech in Noise (SIN) test was developed by reallocating the recorded test material on the compact disc into different lists (blocks). The goal was to increase the equivalence and reliability of the test blocks to enhance their usefulness in research settings. The Revised Speech in Noise test has four blocks of sentences. Each block comprises twice as many sentences as in the original SIN test. There are also practice sentences for each condition. Forty-two elderly subjects with normal hearing for their age and gender provided data on the equivalence of the new test blocks. The remaining inequalities in mean scores were mostly eliminated using score weighting. Critical differences were developed to promote interpretation of scores from the same individual under different conditions. The revisions substantially improved the equivalence of test blocks and their sensitivity to performance changes. Increased test time is the associated drawback.