The clinical use of Arthur Boothroyd (AB) word lists in Australia: exploring evidence-based practice

Abstract

Objective: Limited empirical investigation exists validating the use of Arthur Boothroyd (AB) word recognition materials within the Australian clinical context. The current research was undertaken to examine the evidence base and clinical implementation/interpretation of AB words in Australia. Design: An on-line 22-question survey was e-mailed to members of the peak audiology professional body in Australia. Study sample: Three hundred and twelve responses were recorded between April and June 2015 from audiologists of a range of ages, working in various clinical settings. Results: The survey results suggested audiologists use AB words on a wide range of clients from children <5 to adults ≥80 years, for diverse purposes including diagnosis of retrocochlear pathology, candidacy and validation of rehabilitative options, and client counselling. A majority of respondents reported typically administering one or two word lists per ear, and over 99% of audiologists utilised phonemic scoring. There was no consensus regarding what constitutes a significant difference between any two given scores. Conclusions: Wide variation exists in the administration and interpretation of AB words in Australia. There appears to be a mismatch between clinical utilisation of AB words and existing evidence-based empirical data. Further research is required to improve evidence-based audiologist training, and thereby current clinical use of AB words.

Keywords:

• Arthur Boothroyd
• evidence-based practice
• speech audiometry
• word recognition

Notes

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Mridula Sharma, Phillip Nakad and Catherine McMahon for their help and support during the data collection and preparation of this manuscript.

Declaration of interest

The author declares no conflicts of interest. The ethical aspects of this study were approved by the Macquarie University Human Research Ethics Committee.

Supplementary material available online

Notes

*Parts of the survey data were presented at the Audiology Australia XXII National Conference 22–25 May, 2016 in Melbourne, Australia.

1. NAL is a federally-funded national audiology research body.

2. Australian Hearing is the clinical arm of the National Acoustic Laboratories. It is the largest provider, and the only government-owned provider, of audiological services in Australia.