RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this pilot study was to examine voice quality changes in individuals with early-stage Parkinson's disease (PD) utilizing the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI) and Acoustic Breathiness Index (ABI) over approximately a 1-year period. STUDY DESIGN: Follow-up study. METHODS: Baseline and follow-up data were gathered from the PDSTUlong speech corpus. The data for both time points included: speaker background information, sustained vowels, reading samples, and measures of PD severity (Hoehn and Yahr scores and Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale III scores [UPDRS-III]). All speakers (N = 12) were native Finnish speakers. AVQIv03.01 and ABI analysis were completed in VOXplot v2.0.1. Changes in AVQI and ABI scores between baseline and follow-up were examined via causal analysis. Further, AVQI and ABI were analyzed in relation to measures of PD severity. RESULTS: Baseline mean AVQI score was 1.79 (range 0.14-4.83, SD=1.60), whereas follow-up mean AVQI score was 2.25 (range 0.55-4.53, SD=1.36). Baseline mean ABI score, in turn, was 2.92 (range 1-27 - 5.31, SD=1.57), whereas follow-up mean ABI score was 3.42 (range 1.40-5.40, SD=1.38). A significant difference was found between baseline and follow-up measures for both AVQI (Z = -2.002, P = 0.045) and ABI (Z = -2.197, P = 0.028). A significant difference in smoothed cepstral peak prominence (Z = -2.118, P = 0.034) and harmonics-to-noise ratio (Z = -1.961, P = 0.050) was also found between the two measurement periods. Change in AVQI and ABI were not correlated with the change in measures of PD severity. CONCLUSION: Over approximately 1-year, a statistical change was observed in AVQI and ABI scores, even in such a small dataset. The specific qualities of breathiness and hoarseness showed the most significant progression. Changes in voice quality were more prominent in ABI analysis.
RESUMEN
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to analyze the acoustic voice quality index (AVQI) in relation to perceptual analysis and disease stage in speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD). STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: The following data were gathered from the Parkinson's Disease Speech corpus of Tampere University (PDSTU): prolonged vowels and reading samples from native Finnish speakers with PD (n = 34), speaker demographic information, and Hoehn and Yahr scale scores. AVQIv03.01 analysis was completed with Praat. Expert raters utilized the GRBASI scale (GRBASI: grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, strain, instability) to assess voice quality. AVQI scores were analyzed in relation to GRBASI ratings and disease stage, as measured by the Hoehn and Yahr scale, utilizing correlation analysis. RESULTS: AVQI scores ranged from -0.11 to 4.46 (mean = 1.64, SD = 1.39), GRBASI average total scores ranged from 0-1.83 (mean = 0.66, SD = 0.50), and Hoehn and Yahr scale scores ranged from 1- 4. A statistically significant correlation between AVQI scores and GRBASI ratings was found (rs = 0.508, P = 0.01). Several significant correlations were also found between the parameters of AVQI and scores for G, R, B and A from GRBASI. Hoehn and Yahr scores correlated significantly with GRBASI total score (rs =0.437, P = 0.01) but not with AVQI. CONCLUSION: A significant correlation was found between GRBASI ratings and Hoehn and Yahr scores, but not between AVQI and Hoehn and Yahr scores. DATA AVAILABILITY: Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their data to be shared publicly. Data may be made available on a case-by-case basis. Data will be available after the active phase of the study in 2028.
RESUMEN
PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyse the relationship between automatic vowel articulation index (aVAI) and direct magnitude estimation (DME) among speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD) and healthy controls. We further analysed the potential of aVAI to serve as an objective measure of speech impairment in the clinical setting. METHOD: Speech samples from native Finnish speakers were utilised. Expert raters utilised DME to scale the intelligibility of speech samples. aVAI scores for PD speakers and healthy control speakers were analysed in relationship to DME speech intelligibility ratings and, among PD speakers, disease stage utilising nonparametric statistical analysis. RESULT: Mean DME intelligibility ratings were lower among PD speakers compared to healthy controls. Mean aVAI scores were nearly the same between speaker groups. DME intelligibility ratings and aVAI were strongly correlated within the PD speaker group. aVAI and DME intelligibility ratings were moderately correlated with disease stage as measured by the Hoehn and Yahr scale. CONCLUSION: aVAI was observed to be a promising tool for analysing vowel articulation in PD speakers. Further research is warranted on the application of aVAI as an objective measure of severity of speech impairment in the clinical setting, with varying patient populations and speech samples.
