The diagnostic accuracy of a new test of early nonword repetition for differentiating late talking and typically developing children.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the diagnostic accuracy of a new Test of Early Nonword Repetition (TENR) for 2-year-old children.


METHODS
232 British-English-speaking children aged 27 (+/-3) months were assessed on 3 standardized tests (receptive and expressive vocabulary and visual processing) and a novel nonword repetition (NWR) test. Parents completed a British adaptation of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory: Words and Sentences (CDI:WS-UK; Klee & Harrison, 2001). The diagnostic accuracy of two versions (1-3 syllables and 1-4 syllables) of a new NWR test was examined. Standard diagnostic accuracy measures of sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative likelihood ratios, and diagnostic odds ratios were generated.


RESULTS
177 children (80%) completed the 1-3 syllable task, and 96 children (73%) completed the 1-4 syllable task. The 1-3 syllable version produced a positive likelihood ratio (LR+) of 7.8 (confidence interval [CI] = 4.5-13.6) and a negative likelihood ratio (LR-) of .28 (CI = .12-.65). The 1-4 syllable version of the NWR test produced a LR+ of 14.88 (CI = 6.1-36.2) and a LR- of .13 (CI = .02-.83).


CONCLUSIONS
The TENR could be useful for identifying 2-year-old children at risk of language impairment.
Stokes
Stephanie F
SF
Curtin University of Technology, School of Psychology, Perth, Western Australia 6845, Australia. s.stokes@curtin.edu.au
Klee
Thomas
T
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002663:Child Language; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007805:Language Development Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007807:Language Tests; D016013:Likelihood Functions; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010700:Phonetics; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity