Speech Range Profile Data in German-Speaking Adults With Vox Phonetography.

Abstract

Objective: Reference data from vocally healthy German-speaking adults of the speaking voice for pitch and loudness in four intensity levels in the speech range profile using Vox Phonetography were collected with the aim of establishing cutoff values for clinical diagnostics.

Methods: Sixty vocally healthy adults (30 female and 30 male), who were nonsmokers and between 18 and 83 years, were investigated in three groups (18-44, 45-60, and >60 years). The commercial plug-in Vox Phonetography of the software Praat was used to collect speech range profile (SRP) data. An SRP of continuous speech material was recorded for each participant using the soft-(level-I), habitual-(level-II), loud speaking voice (level-III), and shouting voice (level-IV). A t test was used to compare SF0 and SPL differences between genders at each intensity level, while repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyzed these differences across intensity levels. One-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc tested age effects on SF0 and SPL, and 95% confidence intervals (CI) determined cutoff values. Backward multiple linear regression assessed gender and age effects on slope SRP parameters, with ANOVA and Tukey-HSD post hoc for age group differences. Cutoff values for slope SRP parameters were established using 95% CI, considering potential age and gender effects.

Results: Various cutoff values of pitch ranges for males and females of the four intensity levels were detected. Pitch decreased significantly from the middle age at intensity levels I and II for females (P < 0.01), and increased at older age at intensity level II for males (P < 0.05). Loudness increased significantly with older age at intensity level I for males (P < 0.05), but no significant age differences in females were evaluated at all intensity levels. The slope measures of the SRP showed no differences between males and females, but a significant age-related effect with cutoff values was established.

Conclusions: The SRP data are appropriate as reference data for the clinical measurement of the speaking voice in German using Vox Phonetography under consideration of age, gender, and vocal status. Further SRP parameters for combining the four intensity levels by slope were successfully analyzed.