High Frequency Speech Identification Test in Telugu

Abstract

The present study aimed to develop the high frequency speech identification test in Telugu and also to test the utility of the developed test material. The study was conducted in three phases. Phase I involved the development of high frequency words in Telugu. In the present study three lists of 25 words each were developed. Two separate lists were prepared based on the number of syllables. In the phase II, the speech identification scores were obtained from individuals with normal hearing, who were native speakers a/ Telugu. In the phase Ill the high frequency speech identification test in Telugu (HFSITT) was administered on individuals having high frequency sensorineural hearing loss to check the utility of the developed HFSIIT. The results showed that majority of the normal hearing individuals obtained a mean score of more than 99 % in right as well as left ear for all the three lists. Comparison across the three lists showed that, any of the lists developed can be used to obtain speech identification scores. Individuals with high frequency hearing loss performed equally in all the lists and between the two ears. Individuals with sloping HFSNHL performed significantly poorer than the normal hearing individuals in all the three lists. The developed high frequency speech identification test thus will be useful to identify the speech perceptual deficits in individuals with high frequency sloping hearing loss who are native speakers of Telugu.