Criterion-related validity of the Test of Children's Speech sentence intelligibility measure for children with cerebral palsy and dysarthria

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the criterion-related validity of the TOCS+ sentence measure (TOCS+, ) for children with dysarthria and CP by comparing intelligibility and rate scores obtained concurrently from the TOCS+ and from a conversational sample.

Method: Twenty children (3 to 10 years old) diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) participated. Nineteen children also had a confirmed diagnosis of dysarthria. Children's intelligibility and speaking rate scores obtained from the TOCS+, which uses imitation of sets of randomly selected items ranging from 2–7 words (80 words in total) and from a contiguous 100-word conversational speech were compared.

Results: Mean intelligibility scores were 46.5% (SD = 26.4%) and 50.9% (SD = 19.1%) and mean rates in words per minute (WPM) were 90.2 (SD = 22.3) and 94.1 (SD = 25.6), respectively, for the TOCS+ and conversational samples. No significant differences were found between the two conditions for intelligibility or rate scores. Strong correlations were found between the TOCS+ and conversational samples for intelligibility (r = 0.86; p < 0.001) and WPM (r = 0.77; p < 0.001), supporting the criterion validity of the TOCS+ sentence task as a time efficient procedure for measuring intelligibility and rate in children with CP, with and without confirmed dysarthria.

Conclusion: The results support the criterion validity of the TOCS+ sentence task as a time efficient procedure for measuring intelligibility and rate in children with CP, with and without confirmed dysarthria. Children varied in their relative performance on the two speaking tasks, reflecting the complexity of factors that influence intelligibility and rate scores.

Keywords::

• Cerebral palsy
• children
• intelligibility

Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank the children, their families and the listeners who participated in the project, and Leslie Wellman for assistance with data collection and management.

Declaration of interest: This work was supported by funding from the Canadian Language and Literacy Research Network (Project Reference Number 27013000) and the University of Alberta. TEC Edmonton, the technology transfer office at the University of Alberta, holds the copyright for and licenses the Test of Children’s Speech software (TOCS+). Revenue generated from the license royalties are paid to the University of Alberta. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.