Noise-to-harmonics ratio as an acoustic measure of voice disorders in boys.
This prospective study assessed the efficacy of computerized noise-to-harmonics ratio (NHR) to quantify perceptual and endoscopic findings of dysphonia and/or structural lesion of the vocal fold. Fifty Brazilian boys without vocal complaints were submitted to computerized, perceptual, and endoscopic examination. Thirty boys were dysphonic--3 were classified into the grade category, 5 into breathiness, 9 into roughness, and 15 into grade/breathiness. Vocal fold lesions were observed in 25 boys (17 nodules and 8 cysts). The Mann-Whitney U test revealed that NHR was significantly higher in boys with a structural lesion (p = 0.007) and in boys with dysphonia (p < 0.0001). However, according to a logistic regression model, only the occurrence of dysphonia was explained by NHR; the risk for having dysphonia increased approximately twice (odds ratio = 1.92, 95% confidence interval = 1.3-2.9) with each increase of 0.01 in NHR. Our results suggest that noise is a useful quantitative index to confirm a perceptual diagnosis of dysphonia and to evaluate quantitative changes in a dysphonic voice over time. However, we believe that computerized analysis should be used as a complement, rather than a substitute, for perceptual evaluation. Further studies with a larger sample are required to investigate the relationship between noise and lesions of the vocal folds.
Pereira Jotz
Geraldo
G
Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery Department at Universidade Luterana do Brasil (ULBRA), Porto Alegre, RS. jotz.voz@zaz.com.br
Cervantes
Onivaldo
O
Abrahão
Márcio
M
Parente Settanni
Flávio Aurélio
FA
Carrara de Angelis
Elisabete
E
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007828:Laryngoscopy / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009622:Noise; D011446:Prospective Studies; D014827:Vocal Cords / Q000473:pathology; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*