Assessment of Two Objective Voice Function Indices

• Published in: Annals of otology, rhinology & laryngology Vol. 107; no. 5; pp. 396 - 400
• Main Authors: Piccirillo, Jay F., Painter, Colin, Haiduk, Andrea, Fuller, Dennis, Fredrickson, John M.
• Format: Journal Article Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.05.1998; Annals Publishing Compagny; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; Female; Humans; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Laryngeal Neoplasms - complications; Laryngeal Neoplasms - diagnosis; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Otorhinolaryngology functional investigation (larynx, voice, audiometry, vestibular function, equilibration...); Patient Care Team; Prospective Studies; Sound Spectrography; Vocal Cord Paralysis - complications; Vocal Cord Paralysis - diagnosis; Voice Disorders - classification; Voice Disorders - diagnosis; Voice Disorders - etiology; Voice Quality; evaluation; assessment; voice quality; health status index; voice disorders; multivariate analysis; Human; Prospective; Communication disorder; Objective analysis; ENT disease; Dysphonia; Exploration; Index; Larynx disease; Multivariate analysis; Phonation; Language disorder
• ISSN: 0003-4894; 1943-572X
• DOI: 10.1177/000348949810700506

In the care of patients with voice disorders, physicians, speech pathologists, and other health care professionals routinely make diagnoses, recommend treatment, and evaluate outcomes. Although objective and subjective measures exist, unfortunately, there is no widely accepted, valid method for classifying voice disorders and assessing outcome after voice treatment. In the present research, the relationship between two previously created multivariate objective voice function indices, the weighted odds ratio index and the multivariate logistic regression index, and subjective assessment of voice function was evaluated. Twenty-three adult patients presenting to a speech science laboratory for evaluation of voice disorders were studied in this prospective observational study together with 12 normal volunteers as controls. Vocal function was measured on 14 different parameters with a protocol that included a multichannel input for simultaneous assessment of acoustic and physiological parameters. Each patient was recorded reading the standard passage “The North Wind and the Sun,” and recordings were then evaluated by the GRBAS scale. Overall, there was a statistically significant relationship between the weighted odds ratio index and multivariate logistic regression index and mean GRBAS scores. This research demonstrates that the voice function values calculated from two different multivariate objective voice function indices are significantly associated with subjective voice assessments. These multivariate objective voice indices may be appropriate for use in clinical trials and outcomes research on treatment effectiveness for voice disorders.