The reliability of the SCAN test: results from a primary school population in the UK.
The SCAN test utilizes a pre-recorded tape, with carrier phrase and target words spoken by an American English speaker, to screen for central auditory processing disorders in children. The aim of the present study was to establish whether the normative data, derived from American school children, are applicable to a UK primary school population. The SCAN test was administered to 133 British primary school children with normal hearing, stratified into one-year age bands. Mean scores from the UK sample were found to be significantly lower than US mean scores for the most of the age bands. Analysis of word errors indicates accent and word familiarity effects. This evaluation of the SCAN indicates that the test is not directly applicable to British children as currently normalized. The present study provides interim norms for the American recording for age bands six to 11 years. It is recommended that the test material is recorded by a UK English speaker, with substitution of high error-rate target words, followed by normative data collection for the new test material.
Marriage
J
J
Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK. jem1003@cam.ac.uk
King
J
J
Briggs
J
J
Lutman
M E
ME
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006311:Hearing Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012572:School Health Services; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology