Journal article
Pitch Strength as an Outcome Measure for Treatment of Dysphonia
Journal of voice, Vol.31(6), pp.691-696
11/01/2017
DOI: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2017.01.016
PMCID: PMC5600631
PMID: 28318967
Abstract
Measurement of treatment outcomes is critical for the spectrum of voice treatments (ie, surgical, behavioral, or pharmacological). Outcome measures typically include visual (eg, stroboscopic data), auditory (eg, Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice; Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain), and objective correlates of vocal fold vibratory characteristics, such as acoustic signals (eg, harmonics-to-noise ratio, cepstral peak prominence) or patient self-reported questionnaires (eg, Voice Handicap Index, Voice-Related Quality of Life). Subjective measures often show high variability, whereas most acoustic measures of voice are only valid for signals where some degree of periodicity can be assumed. However, this assumption is often invalid for dysphonic voices where signal periodicity is suspect. Furthermore, many of these measures are not useful in isolation for diagnostic purposes.
We evaluated a recently developed algorithm (Auditory Sawtooth Waveform Inspired Pitch Estimator—Prime [Auditory-SWIPE′]) for estimating pitch and pitch strength for dysphonic voices. Whereas fundamental frequency is a physical attribute of a signal, pitch is its psychophysical correlate. As such, the perception of pitch can extend to most signals irrespective of their periodicity.
Post hoc analyses were conducted for three groups of patients evaluated and treated for voice problems at a major voice center: (1) muscle tension dysphonia/functional dysphonia, (2) vocal fold mass(es), and (3) presbyphonia. All patients were recorded before and after surgical/behavioral treatment for voice disorders. Pitch and pitch strength for each speaker were computed with the Auditory-SWIPE′ algorithm.
Comparison of pre- and posttreatment data provides support for pitch strength as a measure of treatment outcomes for dysphonic voices.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Pitch Strength as an Outcome Measure for Treatment of Dysphonia
- Creators
- Lisa M. Kopf - University of IowaCristina Jackson-Menaldi - Wayne State UniversityAdam D. Rubin - Michigan State UniversityJean Skeffington - Michigan State UniversityEric J. Hunter - Michigan State UniversityMark D. Skowronski - University of South FloridaRahul Shrivastav - Michigan State University
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Journal of voice, Vol.31(6), pp.691-696
- Publisher
- Elsevier Inc
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jvoice.2017.01.016
- PMID
- 28318967
- PMCID
- PMC5600631
- ISSN
- 0892-1997
- eISSN
- 1873-4588
- Grant note
- R01DC009029 / National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100000055)
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/01/2017
- Academic Unit
- Communication Sciences and Disorders
- Record Identifier
- 9984446268602771
Metrics
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