Journal article
The Speech Intelligibility Index: Tutorial and Applications for Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
American journal of audiology, Vol.34(3), pp.467-483
09/02/2025
DOI: 10.1044/2025_AJA-24-00267
PMCID: PMC12418376
PMID: 40710959
Abstract
Speech audibility refers to how much access a listener has to the acoustic cues that comprise spoken communication. The Speech Intelligibility Index (SII) is a measure of speech audibility that has had increasing use in pediatric audiology to quantify auditory access with and without hearing aids. This tutorial focuses on clinical applications of the SII in children who are deaf and hard of hearing (DHH).
We discuss the calculation of the SII and the current clinical tools that calculate aided and unaided SII. We describe practical uses of the SII throughout the steps of audiologic care, including at diagnosis of hearing loss, hearing technology candidacy, hearing aid verification, and long-term management of children who are DHH. Common questions about clinical applications of the SII are addressed throughout the tutorial. Finally, we present three case studies that illustrate the application of SII to clinical decision making and counseling with children and their families.
The SII has multiple applications in pediatric audiology. Speech audibility can support device candidacy and management decisions for children who are DHH.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- The Speech Intelligibility Index: Tutorial and Applications for Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
- Creators
- Kathryn B Wiseman - Boys Town National Research HospitalCaitlin Sapp - University of North Carolina at Chapel HillDerek Stiles - Boston Children's HospitalElizabeth A Walker - University of IowaRyan W McCreery - Boys Town National Research Hospital
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- American journal of audiology, Vol.34(3), pp.467-483
- DOI
- 10.1044/2025_AJA-24-00267
- PMID
- 40710959
- PMCID
- PMC12418376
- NLM abbreviation
- Am J Audiol
- ISSN
- 1558-9137
- eISSN
- 1558-9137
- Publisher
- AMER SPEECH-LANGUAGE-HEARING ASSOC
- Grant note
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health: R01DC019081, R01DC013591
The tutorial was supported by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers R01DC019081 (Principal Investigator [PI] : Elizabeth Walker) and R01DC013591 (PI: Ryan W. McCreery) . The content of this project is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. All authors contributed to the conceptualization, writing, editing, and reviewing of this tutorial. Several people provided support, assistance, and feedback at various points in the project, including Allison Ocel, Melissa Henry, Steven Gianakas, Amberlee Haggerty, and Wendy Fick.
- Language
- English
- Electronic publication date
- 07/25/2025
- Date published
- 09/02/2025
- Academic Unit
- Communication Sciences and Disorders; Otolaryngology
- Record Identifier
- 9984865443802771
Metrics
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