The Self-Assessment, Perturbation, and Resonance Values of Voice and Speech in Individuals with Snoring and Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

Purpose: The static and dynamic soft tissue changes resulting in hypopnea and/or apnea in the subjects with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occur in the upper airway, which also serves as the voice or speech tract. In this study, we looked for the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) and Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL) scores in addition to perturbation and formant values of the vowels in those with snoring and OSA.

Methods: Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), STOP-Bang scores, Body-Mass Index (BMI), neck circumference (NC), modified Mallampati Index, tonsil size, Apnea-Hypopnea Index, VHI-10 and V-RQOL scores, perturbation and formant values, and fundamental frequency of the voice samples were taken to evaluate.

Results: The data revealed that not the perturbation and formant values but scores of VHI-10 and V-RQOL were significantly different between the control and OSA subjects and that both were significantly correlated with ESS and NC. Further, a few significant correlations of BMI and tonsil size with the formant and perturbation values were also found.

Conclusions: Our data reveal that (i) VHI-10 and V-RQOL were good identifiers for those with OSA, and (ii) perturbation and formant values were related to particularly tonsil size, and further BMI. Hence, we could say that in an attempt to use a voice parameter to screen OSA, VHI-10, and V-RQOL appeared to be better than the objective voice measures, which could be variable due to the tonsil size and BMI of the subjects.