Objectives: Despite anecdotal reports of voice impairment in quadriplegia, the exact nature of these impairments is not well described in the literature. This article details objective and subjective voice assessments for people with quadriplegia at baseline and after a respiratory-targeted singing intervention.
Study Design: Randomized controlled trial.
Methods: Twenty-four participants with quadriplegia were randomly assigned to a 12-week program of either a singing intervention or active music therapy control. Recordings of singing and speech were made at baseline, 6 weeks, 12 weeks, and 6 months postintervention. These deidentified recordings were used to measure sound pressure levels and assess voice quality using the Multidimensional Voice Profile and the Perceptual Voice Profile.
Results: Baseline voice quality data indicated deviation from normality in the areas of breathiness, strain, and roughness. A greater percentage of intervention participants moved toward more normal voice quality in terms of jitter, shimmer, and noise-to-harmonic ratio; however, the improvements failed to achieve statistical significance.
Conclusions: Subjective and objective assessments of voice quality indicate that quadriplegia may have a detrimental effect on voice quality; in particular, causing a perception of roughness and breathiness in the voice. The results of this study suggest that singing training may have a role in ameliorating these voice impairments.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2013.08.017 | DOI Listing |
J Voice
January 2025
Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; School of Medicine, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan; Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Mackay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Electronic address:
Objectives: This study investigated the relationship between the position of the paralyzed vocal fold and voice quality in patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) and identified a reliable acoustic analysis tool to enhance the accuracy of voice quality assessments in this population.
Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted with 70 patients with UVFP diagnosed at Mackay Memorial Hospital. Acoustic features-jitter, shimmer, the harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR), and the cepstral peak prominence smoothed (CPPs)-were analyzed using the Praat software.
J Voice
January 2025
School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing, Callier Center for Communication Disorders, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX; Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX. Electronic address:
Introduction: Patients with primary muscle tension dysphonia (pMTD) commonly report symptoms of vocal effort, fatigue, discomfort, odynophonia, and aberrant vocal quality (eg, vocal strain, hoarseness). However, voice symptoms most salient to pMTD have not been identified. Furthermore, how standard vocal fatigue and vocal tract discomfort indices that capture persistent symptoms-like the Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI) and Vocal Tract Discomfort Scale (VTDS)-relate to acute symptoms experienced at the time of the voice evaluation is unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Voice
January 2025
Division of Phoniatrics and Pediatric Audiology at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Erlangen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91054 Erlangen, Germany.
Objectives: This study investigates the use of sustained phonations recorded during high-speed videoendoscopy (HSV) for machine learning-based assessment of hoarseness severity (H). The performance of this approach is compared with conventional recordings obtained during voice therapy to evaluate key differences and limitations of HSV-derived acoustic recordings.
Methods: A database of 617 voice recordings with a duration of 250 ms was gathered during HSV examination (HS).
Behav Res Methods
January 2025
Department of Psychology, University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières, Trois-Rivières, Canada.
Frequently, we perceive emotional information through multiple channels (e.g., face, voice, posture).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAlzheimers Dement
December 2024
Yonsei University, 원주, Gangwon-do, Korea, Republic of (South).
Background: In contemporary society, essential for quality of life and professional success, is impacted by voice problems affecting 3∼9% of the population. These issues, leading to significant health and economic burdens, can alter voice frequency and tone, impacting self-esteem, social interactions, and professional outcomes. Voice problems are linked to social isolation and depression, a major emotional disorder causing lethargy and loss of hope.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEnter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!