Vocal characteristics during child development: perceptual-auditory and acoustic data.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze perceptual-auditory and acoustic characteristics of children's voices of different age ranges. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Ninety-three 3- to 10-year-old children grouped from 3 to 5, 6 to 7, and 8 to 10 years served as participants. The severity of vocal deviation and the parameters of roughness, breathiness, strain, and instability were assessed using a visual analog scale. We calculated the mean and standard deviation of fundamental frequency (F0), jitter, shimmer, and glottal-to-noise excitation ratio for the sustained vowel, and the mean of F0 variability for connected speech. RESULTS: The most affected voices were in the age range 8-10 years, and only the phonation tension level was reduced as a result of aging. There were significant differences between children aged 3-5 years and the other age ranges for F0 mean for sustained vowels and F0 variability. CONCLUSION: Children aged 8-10 years had the highest severity of vocal deviation. There was a significant reduction of phonation tension and measure of F0, jitter, and shimmer after the age of 5 years.

Vocal Health, Working Conditions and Their Implications on the Occupational Health of Telemarketers: An Integrative Review.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the national and international literature on vocal health, working conditions and occupational health of telemarketers. METHODS: A literature review was conducted using the LILACS, PubMed and SciELO databases. The term "telemarketing" was used for all searches, along with the following descriptors: voice, vocal disorders, work condition and occupational health. Articles published in English, Portuguese or Spanish from 2009- 2019 were included. The variables selected for organizing the data were authors, region, first author's education, affiliation, journal, objective, sample, design, and result. RESULTS: A total of 540 publications were identified in the databases, and after applying the eligibility criteria, 14 articles were included in the final analysis. DISCUSSION: Of the articles selected for final analysis, there was a concentration of studies in 2014, with a new peak of resumption of research in 2019. Regarding Brazilian studies, there was a concentration of studies from the Southeast region, mostly developed by speech therapists. CONCLUSION: In the analyzed articles, it was possible to verify the interference of telemarketers' working conditions in their vocal and occupational health.

Does the Combination of Glottal and Supraglottic Acoustic Measures Improve Discrimination Between Women With and Without Voice Disorders?

AIM: To analyze the accuracy of traditional acoustic measurements (F0, perturbation, and noise) and formant measurements in discriminating between women with and without voice disorders, and with different laryngeal disorders. STUDY DESIGN: A descriptive, cross-sectional, and retrospective. METHOD: Two hundred and sixty women participated. All participants recorded the spoken vowel /Ɛ/ and underwent laryngeal visual examination. Acoustic measures of the mean and standard deviation of the fundamental frequency (F0), jitter, shimmer, glottal-to-noise excitation ratio, and the values of the first three formants (F1, F2, and F3) were obtained. RESULTS: Individual acoustic measurements did not demonstrate adequate (<70%) performance when discriminating between women with and without voice disorders. The combination of the standard deviation of the F0, shimmer, glottal-to-noise excitation ratio, F1, F2, and F3 showed acceptable (>70%) performance in classifying women with and without voice disorders. Individual measures of jitter as well as F1 and F3 demonstrated acceptable (>70%) performance when distinguishing women with different laryngeal diagnoses, including without voice disorders (healthy larynges), Reinke's edema, unilateral vocal fold paralysis, and sulcus vocalis. The combination of acoustic measurements showed excellent (>80%) performance when discriminating women without voice disorder from those with Reinke's edema (mean of F0, F1, and F3) and with sulcus vocalis (mean of F0, F1, and F2). CONCLUSIONS: Individual formant and traditional acoustic measurements do not demonstrate adequate performance when discriminating between women with and without voice disorders. However, the combination of traditional and formant measurements improves the discrimination between the presence and absence of voice disorders and differentiates several laryngeal diagnoses.

Relationship Between Acoustic Measurements and Self-evaluation in Patients With Voice Disorders.

OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between acoustic measures and self-evaluation in patients with voice disorders. STUDY DESIGN: This is a descriptive, transversal, and observational study. METHODS: Patients (257) who answered the Voice Handicap Index protocols (VHI) and the Voice Symptoms Scale (VoiSS) and recorded the vowel /ε/ were included. Standard deviation (SD) measures of the fundamental frequency (F0), jitter, shimmer, and the glottal to noise excitation ratio (GNE) vowel /ε/ were taken. RESULTS: There was a weak positive correlation between all scores of VoiSS and the SD of the F0 and jitter. The overall scores, physical limitation, and VoiSS showed weak positive correlations with shimmer. The overall scores, limitation, and emotional VoiSS showed weak negative correlations with the GNE. The VHI did not correlate with any of the acoustic measurements. There was no difference in the mean of the acoustic measures of the SD of F0, jitter, and GNE because of a voice problem detected from the cutoff points of VoiSS. There was no difference in any of the acoustic measurements when patients with and without voice problems were compared from VHI cutoffs. CONCLUSIONS: There is a correlation between the scores of VoiSS and acoustic measurements. Patients with self-reported voice problems in VoiSS present greater deviations in acoustic measures, mainly in jitter. There is no correlation between the VHI scores and the acoustic measures and no difference in the averages of these measures between patients with and without voice problems detected from the VHI cutoffs.