title: Application of the acoustic voice quality index for objective measurement of dysphonia severity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Over the past several decades, many acoustic parameters have been studied as sensitive to and to measure dysphonia. However, current acoustic measures might not be sensitive measures of perceived voice quality. A meta-analysis which evaluated the relationship between perceived overall voice quality and several acoustic-phonetic correlates, identified measures that do not rely on the extraction of the fundamental period, such the measures derived from the cepstrum, and that can be used in sustained vowel as well as continuous speech samples. A specific and recently developed method to quantify the severity of overall dysphonia is the acoustic voice quality index (AVQI) that is a multivariate construct that combines multiple acoustic markers to yield a single number that correlates reasonably with overall vocal quality.
  
  
  METHODS
  This research is based on one pool of voice recordings collected in two sets of subjects: 60 vocally normal and 58 voice disordered participants. A sustained vowel and a sample of connected speech were recorded and analyzed to obtain the six parameters included in the AVQI using the program Praat. Statistical analysis was completed using SPSS for Windows, version 12.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Correlation between perception of overall voice quality and AVQI: A significant difference exists (t(95) = 9.5; p<.000) between normal and dysphonic voices.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this study demonstrate the clinical feasibility of the AVQI as a measure of dysphonia severity.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Otorrinolaringología, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, España. Electronic address: fnunezb@telefonica.net.
authors.forename: Faustino
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Núñez-Batalla
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, España.
authors.forename: Estefanía
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Díaz-Fresno
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, España.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Álvarez-Fernández
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Otorrinolaringología, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, España.
authors.forename: Gabriela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Muñoz Cordero
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Otorrinolaringología, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, España.
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Llorente Pendás
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D055154:Dysphonia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Acoustic voice quality index; Praat.; Prominencia del pico cepstral suavizado; Smoothed cepstral peak prominence; Índice acústico de calidad vocal