Development of Sentence Lists for the Korean Repeat and Recall Test: A Preliminary Study with Normal-Hearing Older Adults

Purpose: Auditory-cognitive declines, particularly in working memory, significantly impact communication in noisy environments for older adults beyond peripheral hearing loss. This study aimed to develop Korean sentence lists for the Korean Repeat and Recall Test (K-RRT) and evaluate their feasibility and functional homogeneity in normal-hearing older adults. Method: Sentence materials were developed following the conceptual framework of the original repeat and recall test, incorporating Korean linguistic and cultural characteristics. High-context (HC) and semantically anomalous low-context (LC) sentences were created across everyday themes. Thirty normal-hearing adults (aged 50~70s) performed sentence recognition tasks under six conditions (-5 to 15 dB signalto-noise ratio [SNR], Quiet) and recall tasks in Quiet and 15 dB SNR. Functional homogeneity was defined as the absence of significant performance differences among lists, focusing on clinical feasibility. Results: No significant performance differences were observed among lists across conditions, supporting functional homogeneity. While HC sentences exhibited ceiling effects at higher SNRs, LC sentences demonstrated greater differentiation. Notably, significant age-related performance deficits emerged only in the most cognitively demanding condition (LC at -5 dB SNR). Recall accuracy remained stable without list effects. Conclusion: These findings provide preliminary feasibility evidence for the K-RRT sentence lists and demonstrate their sensitivity to contextual and noise-related cognitive load in normal-hearing older adults. Further studies with larger samples and hearing-impaired populations are required to establish the psychometric properties and clinical utility of the K-RRT.