Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology最新文献

Objective: To investigate the acoustic parameter changes after weight loss in bariatric surgery patients.

Materials and methods: This prospective, longitudinal study was conducted with 15 patients with planned bariatric surgery, who were evaluated pre-operatively and at 6 months post-operatively. Fundamental frequency (F0), Formant frequency (F1, F2, F3, and F4), Frequency perturbation (Jitter), Amplitude perturbation (Shimmer) and Noise-to-Harmonics Ratio (NHR) parameters were evaluated for /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/ vowels. Changes in the acoustic analysis parameters for each vowel were compared. The study group was separated into two groups according to whether the Mallampati score had not changed (Group 1) or had decreased (Group 2) and changes in the formant frequencies were compared between these groups.

Results: A total of 15 patients with a median age of 40 ± 11 years completed the study. The median weight of the patients was 122 ± 14 kg pre-operatively and 80 ± 15 kg, post-operatively. BMI declined from 46 ± 4 to 31 ± 5 kg/m². The Mallampati score decreased by one point in six patients and remained stable in nine. Of the acoustic voice analysis parameters of vowels, in general, fundamental frequency tended to decrease, and shimmer and jitter values tended to increase. Some of the formant frequencies were specifically affected by the weight loss and this showed statistical significance between Group 1 and Group 2.

Conclusion: The present study reveals that some specific voice characteristics might be affected by successful weight loss after bariatric surgery.HighlightsObesity reduces the size of the pharyngeal lumen at different levels.The supralaryngeal vocal tract size and configuration is a determinative factor in the features of the voice.Changes in the length and shape of the vocal tract, or height and position of the tongue can result in changes especially in formant frequencies in acoustic analysis.

Objective: To examine the power of the parameters obtained from different sustained vowels used in acoustic and electroglottographic (EGG) voice evaluation protocols to discriminate between dysphonic and non-dysphonic voice quality.

Methods: Sixty non-dysphonic participants and 30 dysphonic participants were included in the study. In addition to the time domain amplitude and frequency perturbation parameters obtained from the sustained phonation of /ʌ/-/ɛ/-/i/-/u/ vowels, several frequency-domain spectral/cepstral parameters and EGG parameters were evaluated. The classification performance of the acoustic and electroglottographic measures was quantified using analysis and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.

Results: As a result of ROC analysis, the discriminative diagnostic performance (area under the curve, AUC) of the test for low-vowel (/ʌ/-/ɛ/) phonation was higher than values obtained from high-vowel (/i/-/u/) phonation. For /ʌ/ and /ɛ/ sustained vowels, the parameters exhibiting the highest discrimination were fundamental frequency standard deviation (f_o/STD), cepstral peak prominence (CPP), relative average perturbation (RAP), pitch perturbation quotient (PPQ), and jitter percent (JITT). In the EGG parameters, on the other hand, average jitter and periodicity parameters obtained from front vowels (/ɛ/-/i/) were found to have higher AUC values compared to back vowels (/ʌ/-/u/).

Conclusions: In acoustic analyses, /ʌ/ and /ɛ/ sustained vowels give the highest diagnostic performance. In the electroglottographic evaluation, on the other hand, /ɛ/ and /i/ vowels, when the position of the tongue is forward, have better classification performance compared to /ʌ/ and /u/ vowels, when the position of the tongue is back.

Purpose: With the outbreak of the COVID-19 and the need for physical distancing, the provision of Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) services via telepractice has been essential. One of the first steps in this field is the need to study telepractice among Speech and Language Pathologists (SLPs). However, there is currently no specific instrument to measure telepractice in SLP to achieve this aim. The present study was conducted to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a questionnaire to investigate telepractice among SLPs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Materials and methods: The study comprised of two stages: (1) development of the questionnaire according to an in-depth literature review and (2) evaluation of the validity and reliability of the questionnaire. The content validity of the instrument was determined by 10 experts in the field of SLP. To check the face validity of the questionnaire, 10 SLPs were interviewed and their opinions were incorporated in the questionnaire. A total of 221 SLPs completed the questionnaire to determine the construct validity and the internal consistency. To evaluate the test-retest reliability, 30 SLPs completed the questionnaire twice with two weeks of interval.

Results: The final version of the questionnaire comprised of three sections and 31 items. The Cronbach's alpha coefficients for different sections of the questionnaire ranged between 0.902 and 0.92 and the Intra-class Correlation coefficients of the sections were found to be between 0.9 and 0.96 in the test-retest reliability.

Conclusions: The questionnaire developed in the study is a valid and reliable scale to measure telepractice among SLPs for educational or research purposes.

Objective: In this case report, we aimed to examine the effects of an intensive voice treatment (the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment [LSVT^®LOUD]) for Wilson's disease (WD), and adult cerebral palsy (CP), and dysarthria.Method: The participants received LSVT^®LOUD four times a week for 4 weeks. Acoustic, perceptual (GRBAS) analyses were performed and data from the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) were obtained before and after treatment.Results: Besides the Harmonics-to Noise Ratio (HNR) value (dB) of the participant with WD, for both participants' fundamental frequencies (Hz), jitter (%), and shimmer (%) values showed significant differences (p < .05) after therapy. Both participants showed significant improvements (p < .05) in the duration (s) and the sound pressure level (dB, SPL) of sustained vowel phonation (/a/), in SPL (dB) of pitch range (high and low /a/) and reading and conversation (p < .01). There was a positive improvement in the high-frequency values (Hz) of both participants but not in the low-frequency values (Hz) in the participant with WD. Perceptual analysis with GRBAS judgements of sustained vowel (/a/) and paragraph reading of two participants also showed improvement. After therapy, perceived loudness of the participants' voice increased.Conclusions: The findings provide some preliminary observations that the individuals with WD and the adult individuals with CP can respond positively to intensive speech treatment such as LSVT^®LOUD. Further studies are needed to investigate speech treatments specific to WD and adult CP.

Purpose: To verify the influence of work characteristics and the occupational voice use on the self-perception of vocal fatigue symptoms in individuals working in the home office during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational, and descriptive study. The sample consisted of 206 individuals (123 women and 83 men), with an average age of 34 years, working exclusively in a home office mode due to the pandemic. Through an online form, all participants responded to the Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI) protocol and the questionnaire on the characterization of work and the occupational voice use during the pandemic, developed by the authors of this study. Multiple linear regression using the backward elimination technique was performed.

Results: The variables the interlocutor does "not listen to me in home office work," "noise in the home office work environment," "the daily workload in home office," "vocal quality worsened in home office work," "increased vocal loudness in home office work" and "lack of training about voice use in home office work" are predictors of the dependent variable vocal fatigue symptoms.

Conclusion: The characteristics of work and occupational voice use influence the self-perception of vocal fatigue symptoms in individuals working in the home office mode during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aim: Some school age children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) struggle with literacy development, yet, the individual differences are major and not well understood. Moreover, literacy attainment is multi-faceted and literacy skills and difficulties manifest in more than one way. The aim of this study was to describe this variability and to identify language/cognitive predictors of different literacy skills.

Methods: We assessed different literacy skills (word reading accuracy, reading fluency, reading comprehension, and spelling), along with a set of language/cognitive predictor skills (listening comprehension, rapid automatized naming, phonological awareness and nonverbal cognitive ability), in 12-year-old children with ASD without intellectual disability recruited from a longitudinal study in Sweden.

Results: There was great heterogeneity (from floor to ceiling levels) in literacy skills, with a statistically increased prevalence of poor reading comprehension and reading fluency compared with population norms. In regression analyses, it was shown that concurrent language/cognitive predictor skills (e.g. phonological awareness) were differentially associated with literacy subskills. Moreover, a longitudinal analysis showed that preschool language problems were associated with poor word reading accuracy and spelling in middle school.

Conclusions: The results confirm previous findings as well as provide new knowledge regarding profiles of literacy (difficulties) in children with ASD; interestingly, the identified predictors of literacy skills in ASD resembled those identified as important in general reading (and dyslexia) research, which might indicate that similar kinds of support and training would be beneficial.

Background: During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, professional caregivers caring for the elderly may experience more vocal tract problems in addition to regular high vocal demands while wearing face masks/coverings.

Methods and participants: Vocal tract discomfort (VTD) was assessed in 64 caregivers in one home for the elderly (64% participation rate) in June 2020 using the German version of the VTD scale.

Results: More than one-half of the participating caregivers experienced VTD, described mostly as dryness, irritability, and tightness. Approximately, 80% reported that sensations were not perceived before enhanced infection prevention standards were implemented.

Conclusions: Among caregivers caring for the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic, special care should be focused on the voice and vocal tract well-being.

Purpose: To verify the factors associated with the need of tube feeding (TF) during patients post-ischemic stroke hospitalization.

Method: This is a retrospective study with 70 adult post-ischemic hemispheric stroke adult patients hospitalized in the Neurology department at a tertiary public hospital in Santa Catarina, Brazil. We investigated associations between the need of a feeding tube during hospitalization and the variables age, gender, admission and discharge NIHSS and FOIS, length of hospital stay in days, presence of thrombolytic therapy, extensive stroke, hemisphere affected, prior stroke, pneumonia during hospitalization, presence of signs of laryngeal penetration and laryngotracheal aspiration and dysphagia in the first and last swallowing clinical evaluation.

Results: A total of 33 participants used tube feeding. There was a significant relationship among tube feeding and the following parameters: NIHSS (p value .001), FOIS (p value .001), extensive stroke (p value .034), left hemisphere involvement (p value .035), pneumonia during hospitalization (p value .001), length of hospital stay in days (p value .001), signs of laryngotracheal penetration/aspiration (p value .001) and dysphagia in speech-language assessment (p value .001).

Conclusion: Tube feeding during patients hospitalization after ischemic hemispheric stroke was predicted by the severity of stroke and signs of airway permeation.Key pointsSwallowing difficulty is one of the most common post-stroke consequences.There are few studies on the characterization of post-stroke patients with tube feeding.Tube feeding after ischemic stroke predictors were severity of stroke and signs of airway permeation.

Purpose: Studies suggest that singers are over-represented in voice clinics and present a high risk of developing voice disorders. This retrospective study aims to describe the characteristics of 78 singers consulting a phoniatrician.Methods: In their medical files, data related to age, gender, occupational status, singing training, musical style, voice complaint, diagnosis, voice-quality grading (GRBAS) and treatment were gathered.Results: The patients were mostly female singers (87%). Non-professional singers (semi-professional included) represented 64%, professional singers 25% and students of singing 11%. The majority of singers were choristers (27%) and 22% were classical-style/oratorio-style singers. Two-thirds of the population had intensive vocal activity in speech or singing. Vocal endurance, somatosensory signs and difficulties with high pitches were the most frequent symptoms. Among the patients, 79% presented with singing-voice disorders with 85% of these having vocal fold lesions. Generally, their speaking voices were preserved. Vocal-folds nodules were the most prevalent pathology (37%) followed by sulcus (26%) and voice therapy was the main treatment.Conclusions: This study emphasizes the fact that singers have specific voice complaints related to their voice usage. The high occurrence of sulcus and other congenital-lesion suspicions, unusual in the general population consulting an ENT phoniatrician, seems to be rather specific for singers in agreement with the literature.

Purpose: Speech-language pathologists' (SLPs) role in tracheostomy management is well described internationally. Surveys from Australia and the United Kingdom show high clinical consistency in SLP tracheostomy management, and that practice follows guidelines, research evidence and protocols. Swedish SLPs work with tracheostomised patients, however, the content and extent of this practice, and how it compares to international research is unknown. This study reports how SLPs in Sweden work with tracheostomised patients, investigating (a) the differences and similarities in SLPs tracheostomy management and (b) the facilitators and barriers to tracheostomy management, as reported by SLPs.Methods: A study-specific, online questionnaire was completed by 28 SLPs who had managed tracheostomised patients during the previous year. This study was conducted in 2018, pre Covid-19 pandemic. The answers were analysed for exploratory descriptive comparison of data. Content analyses were made on answers from open-ended questions.Results: Swedish SLPs manage tracheostomised patients, both for dysphagia and communication. During this study, the use of protocols and guidelines were limited and SLPs were often not part of a tracheostomy team. Speech-language pathologists reported that the biggest challenges in tracheostomy management were in (a) collaboration with other professionals, (b) unclear roles and (c) self-perceived inexperience. Improved collaboration with other professionals and clearer roles was suggested to facilitate team tracheostomy management.Conclusions: This study provides insight into SLP tracheostomy management in Sweden, previously uncharted. Results suggest improved collaboration, further education and clinical training as beneficial for a clearer and more involved SLP role in tracheostomy management.