title: Prevalence of voice quality deviations in the normal adult population.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of voice quality deviations in a normal adult population. One-hundred twelve subjects, aged 17 to 80, read a short paragraph aloud into a high-fidelity tape recorder and completed a case history questionnaire. A group of 11 pretrained judges rated overall performance of each taped sample on a seven-point equal-appearing intervals scale, then designated those quality components which contributed toward deviant ratings. Eighty-two percent of the group received a mean severity rating lower than 1.99; 16% had a rating between 2.00 and 2.99; and 2% was assigned a mean rating higher than 3.00.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006685:Hoarseness / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009666:Nose; D010414:Pennsylvania; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D014831:Voice; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014833:Voice Quality