Porter Heather L, Buss Emily, Browning Jenna, Leibold Lori J
Center for Hearing Research, Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, NE.
Department of Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Am J Audiol. 2019 Sep 13;28(3):714-723. doi: 10.1044/2019_AJA-18-0162. Epub 2019 Jul 18.
Purpose It can be challenging to collect reliable behavioral responses to sound from individuals with significant motor or developmental impairments, the most common types of comorbid disability found in children with hearing loss (e.g., Gallaudet Research Institute, 2011). The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of using a 2-interval, forced-choice, observer-based method for individuals considered to be difficult-to-test using behavioral audiometric assessments. Method Participants were 5 children with motor and developmental impairments, ages 5-15 years ( = 11.6, = 4.6). The functional abilities of all participants were greater than 2 below the mean, as measured by the Vineland-II Parent Caregiver Rating Form. Participants listened to either a male talker saying the word "playground" or a 1000-Hz warble tone, presented via an insert earphone or a sound field speaker. An observer, blind to signal presentation, selected 1 of 2 temporal intervals, determining which contained the signal based only on participant behavior. Criterion was reached when the observer correctly identified the interval containing the signal for 8 of the last 10 trials. Results An 80%-correct criterion was met for all participants, suggesting feasibility for use in children with motor or developmental impairment. Two participants were tested using an adaptive tracking procedure; a reliable threshold estimate was obtained for both children. This method offers promise for children who have difficulty performing behavioral audiometric assessments currently in use clinically.
目的 对于患有严重运动或发育障碍的个体（听力损失儿童中最常见的共病残疾类型，例如，加劳德特研究所，2011年），收集对声音的可靠行为反应可能具有挑战性。本研究的目的是测试一种基于观察者的两间隔、强制选择方法对于那些被认为难以使用行为听力评估进行测试的个体的可行性。方法 参与者为5名患有运动和发育障碍的儿童，年龄在5至15岁之间（平均年龄=11.6岁，标准差=4.6岁）。通过文兰适应性行为量表第二版家长/照顾者评定表测量，所有参与者的功能能力均比平均水平低2个标准差以上。参与者通过插入式耳机或声场扬声器收听男性说出的“操场”一词或1000赫兹的颤音。一名对信号呈现不知情的观察者从两个时间间隔中选择一个，仅根据参与者的行为确定哪个间隔包含信号。当观察者在最后10次试验中有8次正确识别出包含信号的间隔时，达到标准。结果 所有参与者均达到了80%正确的标准，表明该方法在患有运动或发育障碍的儿童中使用具有可行性。两名参与者使用自适应跟踪程序进行测试；两名儿童均获得了可靠的阈值估计。该方法为目前临床上难以进行行为听力评估的儿童提供了希望。
