Evaluation of simplified Arabic matrix test in children with normal hearing

Authors

• Medhat F. Yousef, From the Department of Audiology (Yousef), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, College of Medicine and from Audiology and AVT Department (Dehaish, Marzuq, Almalki), cochlear implant center, King Saud Medical City; from the Department of Audiology (Asiri), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, Riyadh; from the Audiology unit (Garrada) and from Speech and Swallowing Unit (Khoja), King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah; from the Audio-Vestibular Medicine Unit (Busaad, Mahrous), Otorhinolaryngology Department, King Fahad Hospital of University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; from the ENT Department (Yousef), Menoufia University, Menoufia; and from the Otorhinolaryngology Department (Mahrous), Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
• Alia A. Asiri, From the Department of Audiology (Yousef), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, College of Medicine and from Audiology and AVT Department (Dehaish, Marzuq, Almalki), cochlear implant center, King Saud Medical City; from the Department of Audiology (Asiri), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, Riyadh; from the Audiology unit (Garrada) and from Speech and Swallowing Unit (Khoja), King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah; from the Audio-Vestibular Medicine Unit (Busaad, Mahrous), Otorhinolaryngology Department, King Fahad Hospital of University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; from the ENT Department (Yousef), Menoufia University, Menoufia; and from the Otorhinolaryngology Department (Mahrous), Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
• Abdulmalik M. Marzuq, From the Department of Audiology (Yousef), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, College of Medicine and from Audiology and AVT Department (Dehaish, Marzuq, Almalki), cochlear implant center, King Saud Medical City; from the Department of Audiology (Asiri), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, Riyadh; from the Audiology unit (Garrada) and from Speech and Swallowing Unit (Khoja), King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah; from the Audio-Vestibular Medicine Unit (Busaad, Mahrous), Otorhinolaryngology Department, King Fahad Hospital of University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; from the ENT Department (Yousef), Menoufia University, Menoufia; and from the Otorhinolaryngology Department (Mahrous), Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
• Abdulaziz A. Almalki, From the Department of Audiology (Yousef), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, College of Medicine and from Audiology and AVT Department (Dehaish, Marzuq, Almalki), cochlear implant center, King Saud Medical City; from the Department of Audiology (Asiri), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, Riyadh; from the Audiology unit (Garrada) and from Speech and Swallowing Unit (Khoja), King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah; from the Audio-Vestibular Medicine Unit (Busaad, Mahrous), Otorhinolaryngology Department, King Fahad Hospital of University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; from the ENT Department (Yousef), Menoufia University, Menoufia; and from the Otorhinolaryngology Department (Mahrous), Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
• Mohammed N. Garrada, From the Department of Audiology (Yousef), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, College of Medicine and from Audiology and AVT Department (Dehaish, Marzuq, Almalki), cochlear implant center, King Saud Medical City; from the Department of Audiology (Asiri), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, Riyadh; from the Audiology unit (Garrada) and from Speech and Swallowing Unit (Khoja), King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah; from the Audio-Vestibular Medicine Unit (Busaad, Mahrous), Otorhinolaryngology Department, King Fahad Hospital of University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; from the ENT Department (Yousef), Menoufia University, Menoufia; and from the Otorhinolaryngology Department (Mahrous), Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
• Manal A. Khoja, From the Department of Audiology (Yousef), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, College of Medicine and from Audiology and AVT Department (Dehaish, Marzuq, Almalki), cochlear implant center, King Saud Medical City; from the Department of Audiology (Asiri), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, Riyadh; from the Audiology unit (Garrada) and from Speech and Swallowing Unit (Khoja), King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah; from the Audio-Vestibular Medicine Unit (Busaad, Mahrous), Otorhinolaryngology Department, King Fahad Hospital of University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; from the ENT Department (Yousef), Menoufia University, Menoufia; and from the Otorhinolaryngology Department (Mahrous), Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
• Ibrahim A. Busaad, From the Department of Audiology (Yousef), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, College of Medicine and from Audiology and AVT Department (Dehaish, Marzuq, Almalki), cochlear implant center, King Saud Medical City; from the Department of Audiology (Asiri), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, Riyadh; from the Audiology unit (Garrada) and from Speech and Swallowing Unit (Khoja), King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah; from the Audio-Vestibular Medicine Unit (Busaad, Mahrous), Otorhinolaryngology Department, King Fahad Hospital of University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; from the ENT Department (Yousef), Menoufia University, Menoufia; and from the Otorhinolaryngology Department (Mahrous), Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
• Mahmoud M. Mahrous, From the Department of Audiology (Yousef), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, College of Medicine and from Audiology and AVT Department (Dehaish, Marzuq, Almalki), cochlear implant center, King Saud Medical City; from the Department of Audiology (Asiri), King Abdullah Ear Specialist Center, Riyadh; from the Audiology unit (Garrada) and from Speech and Swallowing Unit (Khoja), King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah; from the Audio-Vestibular Medicine Unit (Busaad, Mahrous), Otorhinolaryngology Department, King Fahad Hospital of University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; from the ENT Department (Yousef), Menoufia University, Menoufia; and from the Otorhinolaryngology Department (Mahrous), Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objectives: To evaluate the simplified version of the Arabic matrix test in individuals with normal hearing to derive reference ranges for future measurements with the test material. Methods The test was conducted in 80 native Arabic individuals (20 adults and 60 children across different age groups between 5-10 years) from November 2020 to Mar 2023. Evaluation measurements were conducted in adults and children to derive the reference psychometric functions and assess the training effect. The test list equivalence was verified only in the adults group. Results The reference ranges for speech-intelligibility in noise for 80% thresholds or speech-recognition threshold (SRT80) were as follows: -0.8 ± 2.4 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) (Group 1; 5-6 years), -2.4 ± 2.5 dB SNR (Group 2; 7-8 years) and -2.9 ± 2.3 dB SNR (Group 3; 9-10 years). Conclusion The study demonstrated an influence of age on the measured word recognition performance in children, highlighting the test’s suitability for this population. The reliability of the test was 1.1 dB for 80% threshold and 1.4 dB for 50% threshold. With promising results, this test can be used as a new tool in speech audiometry in audiological diagnostics and management with special focus on modern standard Arabic for children.

Article Type

Research Article

First Page

1526

Last Page

1534

Recommended Citation

Yousef, Medhat F.; Asiri, Alia A.; Marzuq, Abdulmalik M.; Almalki, Abdulaziz A.; Garrada, Mohammed N.; Khoja, Manal A.; Busaad, Ibrahim A.; and Mahrous, Mahmoud M. (2025) "Evaluation of simplified Arabic matrix test in children with normal hearing," Saudi Medical Journal: Vol. 46: Iss. 12, Article 15.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15537/smj.2025.46.12.20240898