The Finnish simplified matrix sentence test for the assessment of speech intelligibility in the elderly

Abstract

Objective: A simplified version of the Finnish matrix sentence test (FMST) was developed to improve the reliability of hearing diagnostic for children and for patients with limited working memory capacity and/or vocabulary.

Design: Study 1 evaluated the word matrix of the Finnish simplified matrix sentence test (FINSIMAT) to rule out systematic differences between the new FINSIMAT test lists, and to provide reference values for normal-hearing (NH) young adults (YA). In Study 2, the FINSIMAT and the FMST were evaluated in elderly listeners with mild-to-moderate hearing impairment (HI).

Study sample: Twenty NH YAs participated in Study 1, and 16 elderly HI adults participated in Study 2.

Results: For NH YAs, the reference speech reception threshold (SRT₅₀) estimate and the slope for the FINSIMAT were −11.2 ± 1.0 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and 19.4 ± 1.9%/dB SNR. For the elderly HI listeners, the mean SRT₅₀ estimates for the FINSIMAT and FMST were −4.1 and −3.6 dB SNR, respectively. The correlation between the FMST and FINSIMAT results was strong (r² = 0.78, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The FINSIMAT showed comparable characteristics to the FMST and proved feasible for measurements in elderly HI listeners.

Keywords:

• Speech audiometry
• speech intelligibility in noise
• speech reception threshold
• matrix sentence test
• elderly

Correction Statement

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

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Mrs Marjukka Havumäki for lending her voice for the test and Mrs Mari Turunen for helping with the data collection in Study 2.

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Finnish ORL-HNS Foundation (Korvatautien tutkimussäätiö), the Oticon Foundation and the State Research Funding for the Kuopio University Hospital.