OBJECTIVE EVALUATION OF DYSPHONIA - PRELIMINARY-RESULTS OF A DEVICE ALLOWING SIMULTANEOUS ACOUSTIC AND AERODYNAMIC MEASUREMENTS

Voice quality analysis was performed in 88 normal speakers and 157 dys phonic speakers using a device that allows simultaneous study of acous tic and aerodynamic parameters during pronunciation of a sustained /a/ . We compared the results with those of voice quality grading by a jur y. The Mann-Whitney test showed significant differences between the gr ades of dysphonia for all the parameters chosen. Comparison of results (using discriminant factorial analysis) with perceptual evaluation by a jury showed concordance in 66.1%. Based on these preliminary result s, the authors conclude that their protocol overlooks some relevant vo ice parameters like middle-term variations. Further study will be unde rtaken to take into account this type of variations.