Development of dichotic digit test in Tulu

Introduction: Behavioral tests are widely used due to their ease of accessibility, simple instrumentation, less variability, and feasibility for interpretation. The use of these tests in regional languages such as Tulu will make the individuals comfortable. Tulu is spoken as mother tongue by over 2 million people in India which demands the need of development of test. Methodology: The study was done in two phases. In Phase 1 of the study, development of material was done which included two lists (List A and List B - each containing 20 digit pairs). In Phase 2 of the study, the recorded material was administered on normal population. Sixty-six native Tulu-speaking adults of age range18-55 years consented and participated in the study. These adults had no associated sensory-motor deficits or history of middle ear effusion and audiological evaluation showing pure tone average ≤15 dBHL; speech identification score (SIS) >90%. Statistical Analysis: Descriptive statistics was used to compile mean and standard deviation and paired sample t-test was used to check the statistical significance between the ears. Results: The present study revealed a significant difference between the right ear and left ear, indicating of greater right ear advantage in Tulu speakers. Conclusion: Language plays an important role in performance of behavioral tests used, even in central auditory test battery, which led to development of test in Tulu. The scores obtained from this test can be utilized in demarcating the normal population from peripheral loss, central auditory processing disorders, cortical/brainstem lesions, and dyslexic groups, in Tulu-speaking population.