Auditory-Perceptual and Acoustic Analysis of Voices of Patients with Spasmodic Dysphonia Recorded on Different Smartphones and Recording Conditions

• Grant number: 21/14567-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2022
• End date: December 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Rosiane Kimiko Yamasaki Odagima
• Grantee: Bruna Yuri Yokomizo
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Objective: Verify whether the auditory-perceptual and acoustic analyzes of the voice of patients with adduction spasmodic dysphonia, performed from voices recorded on different smartphones and recording conditions, present satisfactory reliability. Method: Fifteen patients with adduction spasmodic dysphonia, both genders, aged between 50 and 80 years will participate in the research. Each participant will have three voice recordings: 1. With a specific microphone for clinical voice recording in an acoustic booth; 2. with the participant's smartphone in an acoustic booth; and 3. with the participant's smartphone in their own home. The first two recordings will be performed simultaneously in an acoustic booth. The speech tasks will be the sustained vowels /a/ and /e/, counting from 1 to 15 and sentences from the CAPE-V protocol. The auditory-perceptual analysis of the voices will be performed by three speech therapists who are specialists in voice. The vocal parameters will be the general degree of vocal deviation (G), roughness, breathiness, tension and phonatory breaks. All parameters will be analyzed using the 100mm visual-analog scale. In addition, a questionnaire will be applied to analyze the quality of each recording. The voices will be presented randomly. Acoustic analysis will be performed using the Praat program. The acoustic parameters will be F0, short term perturbation measurements, noise measurements, CPP and AVQI. Method of analyzing the results: The perceptual analysis scores obtained from the evaluation of voices recorded on smartphones (in cabin and at home) will be compared with those of reference recordings. Likewise, the values of acoustic measurements will be compared between different recording systems and recording conditions.