Nisha KV, Bhatarai P, Suresh K, Ghimire S, Prabhu P. Test re-test reliability of virtual acoustic space identification (VASI) test in young adults with normal hearing.
J Otol 2023;
18:55-62. [PMID:
36820153 PMCID:
PMC9938009 DOI:
10.1016/j.joto.2022.12.006]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/12/2022] [Revised: 12/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/28/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Background
Recent developments in virtual acoustic technology has levered promising applications in the field of auditory sciences, especially in spatial perception. While conventional auditory spatial assessment using loudspeakers, interaural differences and/or questionnaires are limited by the availability and cost of instruments, the use of virtual acoustic space identification (VASI) test has widespread applications in spatial test battery as it overcomes these constraints.
Purpose
The lack of test-retest reliability data of VASI test narrows its direct application in auditory spatial assessment, which is explored in the present study.
Methods
Data from 75 normal-hearing young adults (mean age: 25.11 y ± 4.65 SD) was collected in three sessions: baseline, within 15 min of baseline (intra-session), and one week after baseline session (inter-session). Test-retest reliability was assessed using the intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC), coefficient of variation (CV), and cluster plots.
Results
The results showed excellent reliability for both accuracy and reaction time measures of VASI, with ICC values of 0.93 and 0.87, respectively. The CV values for overall VASI accuracy and reaction time 9.66% and 11.88%, respectively. This was also complemented by the cluster plot analyses, which showed 93.33% and 96.00% of temporal stability in the accuracy and reaction time measures, indicative of high test-retest reliability of VASI test in auditory spatial assessment.
Conclusions
The high temporal stability (test-retest reliability) of VASI test validates its application in spatial hearing test battery.
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