title: Acoustic Analyses of Prolonged Vowels in Young Adults With Friedreich Ataxia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Finding measures that track disease progression and determine treatment efficacy is vital for appropriate management in Friedreich ataxia (FA). The purpose of this study was to determine which cepstral- and spectral-based measures extracted from prolonged vowels using Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice (ADSV) program discriminate between those who have FA and normal voice (NV) peers.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a descriptive, prospective study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Initial 2 seconds of prolonged /a/, /i/, and /o/ were analyzed through ADSV from 20 individuals diagnosed with FA and 20 NV individuals. ADSV measures used were cepstral peak prominence (CPP), cepstral peak prominence standard deviation (CPP SD), low/high spectral ratio (L/H ratio), low/high spectral ratio standard deviation (L/H ratio SD), and the Cepstral/Spectral Index of Dysphonia (CSID).
  
  
  RESULTS
  L/H ratio SD was the only measure where significant differences were found across all vowels between groups. Comparing measures per vowel, the vowel /o/ was significantly different between groups on four of five measures. Discrimination analysis revealed 100% of those in the FA group were classified correctly (sensitivity), whereas 95% of NV members were correctly identified (specificity) when all ADSV measures, with the exception of L/H ratio, were entered.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Unstable periods of phonation, such as initiations of voice production in vowels, may yield robust acoustic cues in the FA population. ADSV provides measures that, when considered together, have excellent sensitivity and very good specificity. Vowels yielded differing results on ADSV measures; analysis of different vowel types is recommended.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Health and Public Affairs I, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816. Electronic address: Cecyle.Carson@ucf.edu.
authors.forename: Cecyle
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carson
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Health and Public Affairs I, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ryalls
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Health and Public Affairs I, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816.
authors.forename: Kaylea
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hardin-Hollingsworth
authors.affiliation: Institute Nationale de la Sante et de la Recherche Médicale, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Therese
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Le Normand
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, Health and Public Affairs I, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida 32816.
authors.forename: Bari
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ruddy
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D005602:France; D005621:Friedreich Ataxia / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010699:Phonation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013997:Time Factors; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ADSV; Acoustic analysis; Friedreich ataxia; Spectral-cepstral analysis; Vowels