title: Protocol for the Evaluation of Speech Intelligibility in Dysarthrias: Evidence of Reliability and Validity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Studies about the reliability and validity of intelligibility measures are fundamental to direct their use and interpretation in both clinical and research settings. The present study assessed inter-rater reliability, internal consistency and criterion validity of scores for the sentence and word subtests of the Protocol for the Evaluation of Speech Intelligibility (PESI).
  
  
  METHODS
  This study included 180 adult volunteers who were divided into three groups: 30 speakers with dysarthria, 30 control speakers and 120 listeners. Intelligibility scores were calculated according to the percentage of words correctly transcribed in each subtest: words in sentences and single words.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The intelligibility measurements exhibited a high level of inter-rater reliability for sentences [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.94] and for single words (ICC = 0.96). The items from the single words subtest of the PESI revealed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.93). The measurement of intelligibility of sentences and single words had a high discriminatory power (0.82 and 0.95, respectively), with high sensitivity and specificity, particularly for scores in the single words subtest.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides preliminary evidence of the reliability and validity of the PESI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, Universidade Federal de Sx00E3;o Paulo, Sx00E3;o Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: dos Santos Barreto
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zazo Ortiz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004401:Dysarthria / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012660:Semantics; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D055815:Young Adult