title: A comparison between the Dutch and American-English digits-in-noise (DIN) tests in normal-hearing listeners.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Dutch digits-in-noise test (NL DIN) and the American-English version (US DIN) are speech-in-noise tests for diagnostic and clinical usage. The present study investigated differences between NL DIN and US DIN speech reception thresholds (SRTs) for a group of native Dutch-speaking listeners.
  
  
  METHODS
  In experiment 1, a repeated-measures design was used to compare SRTs for the NL DIN and US DIN in steady-state noise and interrupted noise for monaural, diotic, and dichotic listening conditions. In experiment 2, a subset of these conditions with additional speech material (i.e. US DIN triplets without inter-digit coarticulation/prosody) was used.
  
  
  METHODS
  Experiment 1 was conducted with 16 normal-hearing Dutch students. Experiment 2 was conducted with nine different students.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No significant differences between SRTs measured with the NL DIN and US DIN were found in steady-state noise. In interrupted noise the US DIN SRTs were significantly better in monaural and diotic listening conditions. Experiment 2 demonstrated that these better SRTs cannot be explained by the combined effect of inter-digit coarticulation and prosody in the American-English triplets.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The NL DIN and US DIN are highly comparable and valuable tests for measuring auditory speech recognition abilities. These tests promote across-language comparisons of results.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Section Ear & Hearing and EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center , Amsterdam , The Netherlands .
authors.forename: Cas
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Smits
authors.affiliation: b Communication Disorders Technology, Inc., Indiana University Research Park , Bloomington , Indiana , USA .
authors.forename: Charles S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.affiliation: c Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences , Indiana University , Bloomington , Indiana , USA .
authors.forename: Gary R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Kidd
authors.affiliation: d Cincinnati Children's Hospital , Cincinnati , Ohio , USA.
authors.forename: David R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.affiliation: a Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Section Ear & Hearing and EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center , Amsterdam , The Netherlands .
authors.forename: S Theo
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Goverts
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D001301:Audiometry, Pure-Tone; D001309:Auditory Threshold; D032882:Comprehension; D004007:Dichotic Listening Tests; D005260:Female; D064368:Healthy Volunteers; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010470:Perceptual Masking; D010700:Phonetics; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012016:Reference Values; D013065:Speech Intelligibility; D013067:Speech Perception; D013069:Speech Reception Threshold Test; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Speech in noise; coarticulation; dichotic; digits; diotic; interrupted noise; triplets