Kronenberger William G, Montgomery Caitlin J, Henning Shirley C, Ditmars Allison, Johnson Courtney A, Herbert Carolyn J, Pisoni David B
Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.
Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis.
Am J Speech Lang Pathol. 2021 Mar 26;30(2):740-747. doi: 10.1044/2021_AJSLP-20-00276. Epub 2021 Mar 18.
Purpose Youth with cochlear implants (CIs) are at risk for delays in verbal short-term memory (STM)/working memory (WM), which adversely affect language, neurocognitive, and behavioral outcomes. Assessment of verbal STM/WM is critical for identifying and addressing these delays, but standard assessment procedures require face-to-face (FTF) administration. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility and validity of remote testing methods (teleassessment) of verbal STM/WM in youth with CIs as a method of addressing COVID-19-related restrictions on FTF test administration. Method Tests of verbal STM/WM for nonwords, digit spans, letter-number sequences, sentences, and stories were individually administered by speech-language pathologists over a teleassessment platform to 28 youth (aged 9-22 years) with CIs and 36 same-aged normal-hearing peers. Examiners, parents, and participants completed quality and satisfaction ratings with the teleassessment procedure. Teleassessment scores were compared to results of tests obtained at FTF visits an average of 1.6 years earlier. Results Quality and satisfaction ratings for teleassessment were high and in almost all cases did not differ between the CI and normal-hearing samples. Youth with CIs scored lower than normal-hearing peers on measures of verbal STM/WM, and scores for digit span and letter-number sequencing did not differbetween teleassessment and FTF methods. Correlations across teleassessment and FTF visits were strong for digit span, letter-number sequencing, and sentence memory, but were more modest for nonword repetition. Conclusion With some caveats, teleassessment of verbal STM/WM was feasible and valid for youth with CIs.
目的 接受人工耳蜗植入（CI）的青少年存在言语短期记忆（STM）/工作记忆（WM）延迟的风险，这会对语言、神经认知和行为结果产生不利影响。言语STM/WM的评估对于识别和解决这些延迟至关重要，但标准评估程序需要面对面（FTF）进行。本研究的目的是确定对接受CI的青少年进行言语STM/WM远程测试方法（远程评估）的可行性和有效性，作为应对与COVID-19相关的面对面测试管理限制的一种方法。方法 言语STM/WM的非单词、数字广度、字母-数字序列、句子和故事测试由言语语言病理学家通过远程评估平台分别施测于28名接受CI的青少年（9至22岁）和36名同龄听力正常的同龄人。考官、家长和参与者对远程评估程序完成了质量和满意度评分。将远程评估分数与平均1.6年前在面对面就诊时获得的测试结果进行比较。结果 远程评估的质量和满意度评分很高，几乎在所有情况下，接受CI的样本和听力正常的样本之间没有差异。接受CI的青少年在言语STM/WM测量中的得分低于听力正常的同龄人，数字广度和字母-数字序列的得分在远程评估和面对面方法之间没有差异。远程评估和面对面就诊之间，数字广度、字母-数字序列和句子记忆的相关性很强，但非单词重复的相关性则较弱。结论 尽管有一些注意事项，但对接受CI的青少年进行言语STM/WM的远程评估是可行且有效的。
