Time-Compressed Speech Test in Brazilian Portuguese

Abstract

Rabelo CM, Schochat E. Time-compressed speech test in brazilian portuguese. Clinics. 2007;62(3):261-72. INTRODUCTION:The time-compressed speech test has existed since the 1970s. It is sensitive for evaluating auditory closure. However, it is not used in Brazil because until recently, it had not been developed in Portuguese. PURPOSE: To develop a compressed speech test in Portuguese, to apply it to normal-hearing adults, and to verify which of the compressed lists (50%, 60%, or 70%) is the most appropriate to be part of a set of auditory processing tests. METHODS: 144 normal-hearing adults, distributed homogeneously between both genders, were assessed. The compressed speech tests were applied using monosyllables and disyllables according to 8 previously established sequences, and the results were compared with respect to the initial ear, to the order of presentation, and to the kind of test. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between ears. The 50%, 60% and 70% presentation order produced a better average of correct responses than the 70%, 60% and 50% one. There was a significant difference (P <.001) between the results of the tests comprising lists of monosyllables compared to those comprising disyllables. In both tests (with monosyllables and disyllables) the average of correct responses decreased as the compression increased. CONCLUSION: The monosyllabic and disyllabic lists with 60% compression appeared to be more stable than the others, with the average of correct responses around 90%.KEYWORDS: Speech perception. Hearing tests. Speech discrimination tests. Speech intelligibility. INTRODUCTIONThe communication process among individuals happens more efficiently when the individual who speaks is able to express himself adequately, and the one who hears is able to understand what is being said.In the hearing and decoding process of what is being said, an interrelation between the integrity of the peripheral auditory system ("the hearing") and the central auditory system ("the decoding") is observed. The abilities to process the hearing information, the auditory processing abilities, have been observed to be very important for effective communication.Auditory processing studies explore the abilities involved in the interpretation of the sound stimulus and the involvement of several mechanisms of the auditory system that are responsible for processing verbal and nonverbal stimuli. 1In 1992, Stecker reported that audiologists have developed unique methods for the evaluation of auditory processing disorders, such that the auditory system functioning may be evaluated in an adequately controlled environment with careful use of the desired stimulus. Nowadays, there is a great variety of tests for the evaluation of the auditory processing. However, it is difficult to determine which test should be applied in order to obtain a conclusive diagnosis. In the evaluation of the auditory processing, both monotic and dichotic tests are used. The first studies are from 1957, when Callearo and Lazaroni studied speech i...

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“…The average found in the time-compressed speech test (73.81% to the right ear and 72.36% to the left ear) for the elderly in the present study was below the standardization for Brazilian adults (90% of correct answers regardless of the ear) (12) .…”

“…In this study, the authors found, for the same speech material and the same compression rate used in the present study, scores of 92.4% for the right ear and 91.8% for the left ear (12) .…”

“…Although the left hemisphere is preferential for language, the time-compressed speech test is a monotic test. Thus, the ipsilateral and contralateral pathways of the central auditory system reach both hemispheres, compensating for the preference of the right ear in relation to the left ear (12) . This justifies the absence of difference between the ears.…”

“…The test stimuli are degraded by electromechanical time compression. This test exists for more than 30 years, but only in 2007 was translated and adapted to Brazilian Portuguese for the adult population (12) .…”

“…Research on the performance of adults in this test has been carried out in Brazil, but nothing with the elderly population (12) . In the international literature, one study was found addressing the time-compressed speech test in the elderly, in which the results suggest that the elderly are at a disadvantage compared to young people to hear at faster speech rates (14) .…”