Ana Carolina Constantini

The Effect of Telephone Transmission on Voice Quality Perception

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS This study aims to analyze the effect of telephone transmission on the voice quality perception of subjects with dysphonia and seeks to contribute to the use of perceptual voice analysis in forensic context. The main hypothesis is that the auditory perception of voice quality differs according to the acoustic quality of the speech material. STUDY DESIGN Eight male speakers were simultaneously recorded directly by a digital recorder and over a mobile phone. MATERIALS AND METHODS A perceptual experiment containing 21 speech samples was used. The samples were analyzed via an online adaptation of the Vocal Profile Analysis Scheme (VPAS) into Brazilian Portuguese by a group of six voice-specialized professionals. Data analysis included the relative frequency of the 10 most evaluated VPAS settings in both recording conditions, and the relative frequency of the VPAS groups of features. A multidimensional scaling technique was applied to investigate the perceptual distance between stimuli pairs from both recording conditions. This was followed by a nonparametric multiple linear regression analysis that aimed to comprehend the underlying variables that motivated the spatial arrangement of the stimuli. RESULTS The telephone transmission effect may have an influence on assessing correctly the supralaryngeal, laryngeal, prosodic, and temporal VPAS settings. The perceptual distance between stimuli pairs were mainly motivated by the rating of velopharyngeal system, respiratory support, laryngeal tension, speech rate, and creaky voice. CONCLUSIONS The auditory perception differences between the stimuli pairs with different acoustic qualities could be related to the mobile phone bandwidth and data compression, and to telephone interaction characteristics. A group of laryngeal, supralaryngeal, temporal, and respiratory settings was mainly related to the dissimilarities reported. In terms of the application of VPAS in forensic context, the protocol was considered a relevant scientific tool that enables standardizing and analysis comparison among different groups of forensic specialists.

AUTOPERCEPÇÃO DO EFEITO IMEDIATO DE ETVSO EM CORALISTAS AMADORES

Introdução Os exercícios de trato vocal semiocluído (ETVSO) são amplamente utilizados na rotina fonoaudiológica, tanto no processo de reabilitação quanto na prevenção de disfonias, podendo também ser utilizados para aquecimento vocal, antes do uso profissional da voz1 2. Este estudo investigou, em coralistas amadores, os efeitos imediatos de três destes exercícios: a fonação em tubo de menor resistência (LaxVox®), o finger kazoo e a fonação com canudo de alta resistência.

Disartria e qualidade de vida em pacientes com esclerose lateral amiotrófica

Objetivo: analisar o impacto da disartria na qualidade de vida de pacientes com esclerose lateral amiotrofica. Metodos: o estudo foi composto por 32 sujeitos, divididos em dois grupos (grupo controle e grupo estudo), que realizaram uma entrevista inicial para o levantamento de dados pessoais, seguida da avaliacao baseada no “Protocolo de Avaliacao da Disartria” e aplicacao do questionario de qualidade de vida “Vivendo com Disartria - (VcD)”. Realizou-se analise exploratoria dos dados (media, mediana, devio-padrao, minimo e maximo) e comparacao entre os grupos e correlacao entre escores. O nivel de significância adotado foi de 5%. Resultados: de acordo com os achados, todos os subitens analisados pelo protocolo de avaliacao da disartria foram estaticamente significativos (p<0,001) quando realizada comparacao entre os grupos. Em relacao a qualidade de vida, observou-se correlacao positiva moderada (p=0,0008; coeficiente de Spearman= 0,75202) entre o escore total dos dois protocolos utilizados, indicando que quanto maior o grau da disartria, pior a qualidade de vida (QV) do sujeito relacionada aos parâmetros avaliados. Conclusao: a disartria afeta todos os parâmetros da fala avaliados, em graus variados, o que dificulta a comunicacao e causa impacto negativo na qualidade de vida dos mesmos.Mailing address: Lavoisier Leite Neto Av. José Próspero Jacobucci, 262, Parque das Universidades – Campinas, SP, Brasil CEP: 13086-090 E-mail: lavoisier83@gmail.com ABSTRACT Purpose: to analyze the impact of dysarthria on the quality of life in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Methods: the study consisted of 32 subjects, divided into two groups (control group and study group) who underwent an initial interview for background information, followed by an evaluation based on the Dysarthria Assessment Protocol and completion of quality of life questionnaire “Living with Dysarthria (LwD)”. Exploratory data analysis was collected through mean, median, SD, minimum and maximum measures. A comparison was performed between the studied groups and a correlation was carried out between scores. The significance level adopted was 5%. Results: according to the findings, all sub-items analyzed by the dysarthria assessment protocol were statically significant (p <0.001) when comparing the groups. Regarding quality of life, a moderate positive correlation (p = 0.0008; Spearman’s coefficient = 0.75202) was observed between the total score of the two protocols used, indicating that the higher the degree of dysarthria, the worse the Quality of Life (QOL) of the subject, according to the parameters evaluated. Conclusion: dysarthria affects all speech parameters herein assessed, in varying degrees, negatively impacting communication and quality of life.

Communication vulnerable in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A systematic review

BACKGROUND Individuals with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) exhibit speech disorders since the early stages that decrease the communication rate and interfere in social participation. OBJECTIVE To conduct a literature review on communication vulnerable and Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. METHOD Descriptors of the Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS) were used: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Health Vulnerability, Communication Barriers, Nonverbal Communication, and Communication Aids for Disabled. Articles in Portuguese and English from 2010 to 2015, fully available in the Virtual Health Library, PubMed, and Scopus were used. Duplicate articles and those not related to communication/language were excluded. RESULTS Of the 94 articles found, 37 met the criteria. All of them were published in the USA and Europe, none was Brazilian; 27% of 2012 to 2014; 40.5% descriptive studies and 24.3% case studies; 45.9% addressed ALS and 24.3%, other serious motor alterations, including ALS. A large proportion (89.2%) addressed AAC, 70.3% Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). CONCLUSION The results show that the researches recurrently addressed communication vulnerable, although not necessarily in these terms. The device which was most employed was the BCI, mainly in advanced stages of the disease.