title: Investigation into the applicability and optimization of the Dutch matrix sentence test for use with cochlear implant users.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Matrix sentence tests use words from a fixed word matrix to compose syntactically equivalent, but semantically unpredictable sentences. These tests are suitable for monitoring performance of cochlear implant (CI) users by repeated speech intelligibility testing. This study evaluates the Dutch matrix sentence test in CI users in quiet and in noise. It then investigates the possibility to improve the test-retest reliability for CI users by selecting subsets of sentences.
  
  
  METHODS
  Repeated speech intelligibility testing was performed in quiet and in noise. The effect of sentence selection on the test-retest reliability was predicted by computer simulations and experimentally evaluated using a cross-over design.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifteen post-lingually deafened CI users, of which eleven participated in the cross-over study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The test-retest reliability equaled 2.3 dB in quiet and 1.3 dB in noise. The simulations predicted an improvement in test-retest reliability, especially in quiet. The cross-over study did not confirm the predictions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the study suggest that the homogeneity of the sentences is not the prime component underlying the test-retest reliability. The Dutch matrix speech material and the selected subsets of sentences were equally suitable for speech intelligibility testing in CI users.
authors: Academic Medical Center Amsterdam, Clinical and Experimental Audiology , The Netherlands.
authors: Femke L
authors: FL
authors: Theelen-van den Hoek
authors: Rolph
authors: R
authors: Houben
authors: Wouter A
authors: WA
authors: Dreschler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003198:Computer Simulation; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003638:Deafness / Q000534:rehabilitation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D009622:Noise; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D059629:Signal-To-Noise Ratio; D013060:Speech; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Speech intelligibility; cochlear implant; matrix test; speech reception threshold; speech-in-noise test