Comparing normally-hearing and hearing-impaired children's performance on word intelligibility by picture identification (WIPI), pediatric speech intelligibility (PSI), and Northwestern University-children's perception of speech (NU-chips) tests

The Word Intelligibility by Picture Identification test (WIPI), the Pediatric Speech Intelligibility test (PSI), and the Northwestern University-Children's Perception of Speech test (NU-Chips) were analyzed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of each test. The three tests were administered to two groups of children. One group consisted of six subjects with normal hearing. The second group contained six subjects with a moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss in the better ear. There were significant differences between the two groups of children in overall discrimination scores, among the three intensity levels (20, 30, and 40 dB SL) and the three speech discrimination tests. Correlations between the tests for the hearing-impaired group were highest at a level of 30 dB SL. Sensitivity (correct identification of abnormal) of the tests diminished when the level was increased from 30 to 40 dB SL.

The analysis of the data from the normally-hearing group suggested that all three tests exhibit good specificity (correct identification of normal). The WIPI test appears to be the most sensitive of the three tests for the hearing-impaired subjects included in this study, followed by NU-Chips. The word material on the PSI test was not judged to have good sensitivity in demonstrating the hearing-impaired group's discrimination difficulties.