SENTENCE VOWEL CORRELATION IN THE EVALUATION OF DYSPHONIA/

Considering the widespread use of the sustained vowel in the evaluatio n of voice disorders, our objective was to study the degree to which t he vowel is representative of voice in continuous speech. Phonatory sa mples were recorded from 20 normal subjects and 60 patients representi ng commonly occurring voice problems (nodules, unilateral paralysis, a nd functional). The phonatory samples were evaluated by 25 listeners o n the basis of 12 bipolar, semantic differential scales. Factor analys is produced two perceptual dimensions with similar loadings for both v owels and sentences. A correlation of 0.78 was obtained between vowels and sentences on factor 1 scores, ''vocal severity,'' and a correlati on of 0.77 was obtained between vowels and sentences on factor 2 score s, ''pitch/quality.'' Six of the 80 pairs of sentences and vowels diff ered by two scale points or more on vocal severity. Results suggest th at although a relatively strong relationship exists between the two me asures, sustained vowel sounds may not be an adequate clinical index t o the dysphonic severity of continuous speech.