The Vocal Fold Dysfunction Questionnaire: Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version

Investigating the Effects of Warm-up Exercises on Acoustic Characteristics of Voice in Female Gym Coaches

INTRODUCTION

A plethora of vocal enhancement and rehabilitation programs for voice professionals define vocal exercises irrespective of analyzing their effects on the specific population on which they are applied, in the established dose and often without considering the presence and absence of vocal alteration. So, in this study we investigated the impact of warm-up exercises (WUE) on the acoustic features of the gym coaches.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effectiveness of WUE on the acoustic characteristics of the voice in gym coaches.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a Quasi-experimental control group design study.

METHOD

The study was carried out through participation of forty-five female gym coaches with a mean age of 31.4 years (range: 19-44 years) in Mashhad gym salon. Participants were recruited into two conditions. In the first condition, participants did not receive the exercises for a week and were acoustically evaluated at the beginning and end of the week. In the second condition, participants received the exercises once a day for a week and were acoustically evaluated at the beginning and end of the week. Voice samples were included: at least 3 vowels / a / for at least five seconds. The voice samples analyzed by the Praat software recorder (Version 6.0.23) were collected to detect the acoustic characteristics of voice including fundamental frequency (f0) (Hz), jitter (%), shimmer (dB) and noise to harmonic ratio (NHR) (dB). Finally, the data obtained from these two condition were compared.

RESULTS

After WUE, a significant increased f0, decreased jitter, decreased shimmer and decreased NHR were measured. (p-value < 0.005).

CONCLUSION

The WUE had an immediate positive effect on acoustic characteristics of voice)f0, jitter, shimmer and NHR(in the short term and this study suggests that the WUE is an effective technique for enhancing the overall voice quality of gym coaches.

Acoustic features as novel predictors of difficult laryngoscopy in orthognathic surgery: an observational study

Background

The evaluation of the difficult intubation is an important process before anaesthesia. The unanticipated difficult intubation is associated with morbidity and mortality. This study aimed to determine whether acoustic features are valuable as an alternative method to predict difficult laryngoscopy (DL) in patients scheduled to undergo orthognathic surgery.

Methods

This study included 225 adult patients who were undergoing elective orthognathic surgery under general anaesthesia with tracheal intubation. Preoperatively, clinical airway evaluation was performed, and the acoustic data were collected. Twelve phonemes {[a], [o], [e], [i], [u], [ü], [ci], [qi], [chi], [le], [ke], and [en]} were recorded, and their formants (f1-f4) and bandwidths (bw1-bw4) were extracted. Difficult laryngoscopy was defined as direct laryngoscopy with a Cormack-Lehane grade of 3 or 4. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine the associations between acoustic features and DL.

Results

Difficult laryngoscopy was reported in 59/225 (26.2%) patients. The area under the curve (AUC) of the backward stepwise model including en_f2 [odds ratio (OR), 0.996; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.994–0.999; P=0.006], ci_bw4 (OR, 0.997; 95% CI, 0.993–1.000; P=0.057), qi_bw4 (OR, 0.996; 95% CI, 0.993–0.999; P=0.017), le_f3 (OR, 0.998; 95% CI, 0.996–1.000; P=0.079), o_bw4 (OR, 1.001; 95% CI, 1.000–1.003; P=0.014), chi_f4 (OR, 1.003; 95% CI, 1.000–1.005; P=0.041), a_bw4 (OR, 0.999; 95% CI, 0.998–1.000; P=0.078) attained a value of 0.761 in the training set, but a value of 0.709 in the testing set. The sensitivity and specificity of the model in the testing set are 86.7% and 63.0%, respectively.

Conclusions

Acoustic features may be considered as useful predictors of DL during orthognathic surgery.

The Effect of Bimaxillary Orthognathic Surgery on Voice Characteristics in Skeletal Class 3 Deformity Patients: An Evaluation Using Acoustic Analysis

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of bimaxillary orthognathic surgery on the acoustic voice characteristics of skeletal class 3 patients. All healthy nonsyndromic patients with Class 3 deformity who were eligible for bimaxillary orthognathic surgery, were included in this before and after quasi-experimental study. This experiment's main intervention was mandibular setback surgery by bilateral sagittal split osteotomy plus maxillary advancement using LeFort 1 osteotomy. Age, sex, and intraoperative jaw movements were recorded. Acoustic analysis of voice samples (vowels /a/ and /i/) was performed with Praat software as outcome variables. The formant frequencies (F0, F1, F2, and F3) of these vowels were extracted 1 week preoperatively (T0), 1 and 6 months (T1, T2) postoperatively by a speech therapist. The significance level was set at 0.05 using SPSS 19. The study sample comprised 20 patients including 11 women (55%) and 9 men (45%) with a mean age of 31.95 ± 4.72 years. The average mandibular setback and maxillary advancement were 3.30 ± 0.86 and 2.85 ± 0.74 mm, respectively. The fundamental frequency (F0) and the first, second, and third formants (F1, F2, F3) of vowels /i/ and /a/ were significantly decreased over time intervals, postoperatively (P < 0.05). The finding revealed that bimaxillary orthognathic surgery (maxillary advancement and mandibular setback with bilateral sagittal split osteotomy) might reduce the acoustic formant parameters of voice to the normal frequency ranges, in patients with class 3 skeletal deformities. More clinical trials with greater sample sizes and long-term follow-ups are suggested in the future.

The Effect of Bimaxillary Orthognathic Surgery on Nasalance, Articulation Errors, and Speech Intelligibility in Skeletal Class III Deformity Patients

BACKGROUND

We aimed to detect the changes in nasalance, articulation errors, and speech intelligibility after bimaxillary orthognathic surgery in skeletal class III patients.

METHODS

This double-blinded before and after quasi-experimental study was conducted in the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery, Qaem Hospital, Mashhad, Iran from Mar 2019 to Apr 2020. The main intervention was maxillary advancement with LeFort I osteotomy and mandibular setback surgery with bilateral sagittal split osteotomy (BSSO). The nasalance score, speech intelligibility, and articulation errors were evaluated one week preoperatively (T0), 1 and 6 months (T1, T2) postoperatively by a speech therapist. The significance level was set at 0.05 using SPSS 21.

RESULTS

Eleven women (55%) and 9 men (45%) with a mean age of 31.95 ± 4.72 yr were enrolled. The mean maxillomandibular discrepancy was 6.15 ± 1.53 mm. The mean scores of nasalance for the oral, nasal, and oral-nasal sentences were significantly improved postoperatively (P<0.001). Pre-operative articulation errors of consonants /r/, /z/, /s/ and /sh/ were corrected following the surgery. The percentage of speech intelligibility was significantly increased over time (P<0.001).

CONCLUSION

The patients might show a normal articulation pattern and a modified nasalance feature, following maxillary advancement plus mandibular setback surgery.