Abstract

Objectives: Speech and language pathologists need to assess speech stimulability as a crucial component of assessment in clients with speech sound disorders. The purpose of the current survey was to develop and validate an instrument to assess speech stimulability in Persian speaking children. Methods: The present study was accomplished in two steps. In step I, the test material was developed based on extensive literature review, and five experts were requested to make judgment on the content validity of the test. We evaluated other psychometric properties in step II. A pilot study was performed by the administration of the test on 25 children, and then the correct answer percentages of 100 participants for each item of the Persian test of speech stimulability were calculated. The participants were divided into four groups by six-month intervals. Inter-rater reliability, test-retest, and internal consistency were computed for the reliability measures. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 24.0 (SPSS, Inc., Chicago, IL) was used for the statistical analysis of the data. The significance level was (P < 0.05). Results: The final version of the test includes 132 items (consonant and vowel singleton words and sentences). There was no significant difference among experts' judgment in the content validity of the items (P > 0.05). All of the children could easily repeat the items in the pilot study. The participants were stimulable more than 80 for all of the consonants except/(3)/and 100 for the vowels in the items of the final version of the Persian test of speech stimulability. All of the reliability values (inter-rater reliability, test-retest, and internal consistency) were higher than 0.8. Conclusion: Investigation of psychometric properties of the Persian test of speech stimulability showed that this test is a valid and reliable scale to assess the speech stimulability in Persian speaking children.