Adult normative data for the speech in babble (SiB) test

Abstract

Objective: The Speech in Babble (SiB) test assesses the perception of speech in noise in UK adults. Here, we define the normal range of SiB scores to enable the use of the test in clinic.

Design: In each test, 25 monosyllabic words were played in background multi-talker babble. Listeners had to repeat the word they heard. An adaptive procedure was used to determine the signal-to-noise ratio needed to reach 50% correct responses (i.e. the Speech Reception Threshold). Eight distinct equivalent lists were available.

Study sample: Sixty-nine normal-hearing adults (aged 20–57 years) with no reported listening difficulties participated in the study and completed the SiB test twice in both ears.

Results: Normative SiB scores varied from −0.8 dB to 3.7 dB suggesting that patients outside these limits should be considered as having abnormal scores. No statistically significant difference between ears and no effect of age or sex was found. There was “fair” test-retest reliability.

Conclusion: The SiB test is a short, valid and reliable test that can be used in UK clinics, e.g. as part of a standard APD battery or evaluating the performance of hearing impaired patients.

Keywords:

• Speech
• noise
• babble
• normative
• adult
• hearing

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Note

Acknowledgement

Authors are grateful to Nanthini Kunaratnam for initial efforts in constructing this task, and also to Mark Huckvale for providing the expertise and software for the balancing of the lists.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Auditory processing disorder (APD) is the term used to categorise adults reporting listening difficulties, having normal pure-tone thresholds and abnormal scores in complex listening and/or or electrophysiological tests; these listening abilities are attributed to functional deficits in sound processing within the extended central auditory nervous system (Iliadou et al. 2017).

Additional information

Funding

For the preparation of the article, Giorgos Dritsakis was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 EVOTION grant (no. 727521) and Doris-Eva Bamiou was supported by the UK National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) University College London Hospitals (UCLH) Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) and Horizon 2020 Framework Programme. The funders had no involvement in the research.