A comparison of half- vs full-list speech discrimination scores in a hearing-impaired geriatric population.

Speech discrimination testing using a recorded List A of the CID W-22 test was completed on 76 elderly persons with varying degrees of sensorineural hearing impairment. Half- and full-list scores were compared and the statistical analysis provided support for half-list testing with this population. Variability in scores was discussed relative to expected variation based on previous data by Thornton and Raffin (1978). Recommendations were made concerning alternatives to the presentation of the entire 50-item list.