Sentence intelligibility in noise in children: development of the LIST-k

The goal was to develop a new set of male and female sentence materials in the Dutch language suitable for use in assessments of speech intelligibility in noise in children. A subset of the LIST sentences, a Flemish-Dutch language sentence intelligibility test, was selected for its suitability and appropriateness for children. This subset was grouped into new lists, which were then validated with speech-shaped noise. Fifty-four typically hearing children between 8 and 12 years old and 12 typically hearing adults participated. Children obtained an average SRT of −6.4 (± 0.8) dB SNR across all female lists, and −5.8 (± 0.8) dB SNR across all male lists. Furthermore, an age effect was observed, with performance improving with age. Lists were shown to be equivalent within each set. The two sets of sentences developed and evaluated in noise here, one consisting of 280 sentences/recordings by a male speaker, and one consisting of 210 sentences/recordings by a female speaker are suitable for children aged 8 to 12 years old. Reference data for three age groups are provided.