No abstract

Background:Identification of children with specific language impairment (SLI) has been viewed as both necessity and challenge. Investigators and clinicians use different tests and measures for this purpose. Some of these tests/measures have good psychometric properties, but it is not sufficient for diagnostic purposes. A diagnostic procedure can be used for identification a specific population with confidence only when its sensitivity and specificity are acceptable. In this study, we searched for tests/measures with predefined sensitivity and specificity for identification of preschool children with SLI from their typically developing peers.Materials and Methods:A computerized search in bibliographic databases from 2000 to August 2015 was performed with the following keywords: “specific language impairment” or SLI” and “primary language impairment” or ‘PLI’ with at least one of the followings: “diagnosis,” “identification,” “accuracy,” “sensitivity,” and “specificity.” In addition, the related citations and reference lists of the selected articles were considered.Results:The results of reviewing 23 included studies show that the index measures used in studies vary in accuracy with the sensitivity ranging from 16% to 100% and the specificity ranging from 14% to 100%.Conclusion:These varieties in sensitivity and specificity of different tests/measures confirm the necessity of attention to the diagnostic power of tests/measures before their use as diagnostic tool. Further, the results indicate there are some promising tests/measures that the available evidence supports their performances in the diagnosis of SLI in preschool-aged children, yet the place of a reference standard for the diagnosis of SLI is vacant among investigations.

Objective: There are several risk factors including hearing difficulties, lack of language stimulation, and parents' low level of expectation leading to language disorders in children with cleft palate. Therefore, formal language assessments of children with cleft palate are of great importance in order to prevent further disabilities. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate language parameters in 4- to 7-year old Persian-speaking children with cleft palate. Patients and Methods: 16 children with unilateral and bilateral cleft lip and palate aged between 4 and 7 years participated in the experiment. The Test of Language Development-Primary, third edition (TOLD-P3) was performed to evaluate the language parameters. The results were scored according to the test manual and compared to normative data published with the TOLD-P3. Results:t test analysis showed a significant difference between language parameters in children with cleft lip and palate and the normative data (p < 0.0001). Furthermore, there was a positive correlation between different aspects of language performance. Conclusion: The findings emphasize that speech-language pathologists should also concentrate on early language assessment and treatment for children with cleft lip and palate.

Objectives: The present study aimed to develop and validate a quick repetition test using familiar and culture-based words for assessing Persian-speaking children with Speech Sound Disorders (SSDs). Methods: The study sample was divided into two groups, including 419 participants without any clinical signs of speech impairment and 36 cases with SSD. The psychometric properties of the single word quick repetition test, including reliability (inter-rater and test-retest reliability) and validity (construct, discriminant, convergent, clinical and concurrent validity) were examined. Moreover, the descriptive data for children without SSD were reported. Results: The obtained test-retest and inter-rater reliability data were satisfactory with Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC): >0.7. There was a positive correlation between the results of the quick repetition test and phonetic test, indicating the scale’s acceptable convergence validity. Using inflated beta-binomial regression, statistically significant improvement in test score was found with age (discriminant validity). Comparing the correct responses of the control and case groups (clinical validity) revealed a significant difference in responses between the study groups. Results of Bland–Altman plot suggested an acceptable agreement between quick repetition test and phonetic test (construct validity). Discussion: The Persian quick repetition test is a valid and reliable instrument facilitating the screening of speech sound abilities in 3-8-year-olds. Moreover, this test’s conciseness makes it easily applicable in clinical practice and epidemiologic investigations. Establishing descriptive data from a large sample facilitated comparing children’s speech ability to the speech development standards.

Syntax has a high importance among linguistic parameters, and syntax-related problems are the most common in language disorders. Therefore, the present study aimed to design a Photographic Expressive Persian Grammar Test for Iranian children in the age group of 4–6 years and to determine its validity and reliability. First, the target morphosyntactic structures among Persian-speaking 4–6-year-old children were extracted, and items related to each structure were designed. After both content and face validity were determined and modifications were applied, the initial version of the test was performed on 100 children. The final version of the test was performed on 400 eligible, typically-developing children selected using the random (cluster) method. Psychometric properties investigated in this study include construct validity (convergent validity and age and gender discriminative validity) and reliability (test–retest, inter-rater, and internal consistency). Content validity of each item was between 0.8 and 1, and content validity of the whole scale was 0.86. Exploration of construct validity suggested that age and gender affect the test scores. Convergent validity was found to be significant. Results of test–retest, and inter-rater reliability were significantly correlated and the test was found to have high internal consistency. The Photographic Expressive Persian Grammar Test with 40 items is the first reliable and valid scale that exclusively and accurately evaluates morphosyntactic characteristics of 4–6-year-old Persian-speaking children.