title: Phonetic Approaches of Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease: A Prospective Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study aimed to explore the impact of the selection of the analyzed time interval on the significance of acoustic measurements used to investigate laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) treatment efficacy, and based on these results to develop an alternative statistical approach in data analysis focusing on individual patient vocal behavior.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a prospective case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  From September 2013 to July 2015, 41 patients with a reflux finding score (RFS) > 7 and a reflux symptom index (RSI) > 13 were enrolled and treated with pantoprazole 20 mg twice daily and diet behavioral changes for 3 months. Voice recordings were performed at baseline and after 3 months of treatment. Most stable time intervals of 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 seconds, and a 1-second time interval positioned at mid-production, were subjected to acoustic analysis. Based on the latter, we developed an "informativeness coefficient" for each acoustic parameter that aimed at assessing its sensitivity to clinical resolution in the case of LPR disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant clinical improvement (RSI and RFS) was observed after treatment (P < 0.05). The acoustic analysis revealed that acoustic parameters significantly improving from pre- to posttreatment varied across time intervals. The duration and the position of the analyzed time interval in the production yielded considerable differences in the results. Analysis of the informativeness coefficient indicated that jitter, jitter percent, relative average perturbation (RAP), pitch perturbation quotient (PPQ), shimmer (ShdB), shimmer percent (Shim), amplitude perturbation quotient (APQ), and smoothed amplitude perturbation quotient (sAPQ) were the indices most sensitive to medical treatment efficacy, with a coefficient ranging from 75.86% to 86.21%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Depending on the selection of the time interval over which the acoustic parameters are measured, the potential effect of the treatment may or may not be statistically demonstrated. Future studies are needed to establish standardized methodological procedures for acoustic data analysis.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, UMONS Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMONS), Mons, Belgium; Laboratory of Phonetics, Faculty of Psychology, Research Institute for Language Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMONS), Mons, Belgium; Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, RHMS Baudour, EpiCURA Hospital, Baudour, Belgium.. Electronic address: Jerome.Lechien@umons.ac.be.
authors.forename: Jérôme R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Lechien
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Phonetics, Faculty of Psychology, Research Institute for Language Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMONS), Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Delvaux
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Phonetics, Faculty of Psychology, Research Institute for Language Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMONS), Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Huet
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, RHMS Baudour, EpiCURA Hospital, Baudour, Belgium.
authors.forename: Mohamad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khalife
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, RHMS Baudour, EpiCURA Hospital, Baudour, Belgium.
authors.forename: Anne-Françoise
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Fourneau
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Phonetics, Faculty of Psychology, Research Institute for Language Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMONS), Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Myriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piccaluga
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Phonetics, Faculty of Psychology, Research Institute for Language Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMONS), Mons, Belgium.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Harmegnies
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Faculty of Medicine, UMONS Research Institute for Health Sciences and Technology, University of Mons (UMONS), Mons, Belgium; Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, RHMS Baudour, EpiCURA Hospital, Baudour, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saussez
mesh_terms: D053799:2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006685:Hoarseness / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D057045:Laryngopharyngeal Reflux / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D007828:Laryngoscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D000077402:Pantoprazole; D010699:Phonation; D010700:Phonetics; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D054328:Proton Pump Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014833:Voice Quality / Q000187:drug effects; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D053799:2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles; D054328:Proton Pump Inhibitors; D000077402:Pantoprazole
keywords: acoustic; hoarseness; laryngopharyngeal reflux; reflux laryngitis; voice