This article reviews the elevated prevalence and complex nature of voice complaints among teachers, highlighting their profound impact on students' academic performance, teachers' well-being, and overall school productivity. The text discusses the significance of teachers as occupational voice users, provides statistics on the prevalence,…

This study investigates the influence of linguistic experience on the perception of pathologically-disordered voices using 18 listeners of American English, which has allophonic breathiness, 12 listeners of Gujarati, which contrasts breathy and modal vowels, and 18 listeners of Spanish, which has neither allophonic nor phonemic breathiness.…

Acoustic analysis may provide a useful means to quantitatively characterize the tremulous voice. Signals were obtained from 25 subjects with diagnoses of either Parkinson's disease or vocal polyps exhibiting vocal tremor. These were compared to signals from 24 subjects with normal voices. Signals were analyzed via correlation dimension and several…

Voice practitioners require an objective index of dysphonia severity as a means to reliably track treatment outcomes. To ensure ecological validity however, such a measure should survey both sustained vowels and continuous speech. In an earlier study, a multivariate acoustic model referred to as the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI), consisting…

Purpose: The purpose of this experiment was to assess the ability of an acoustic model composed of both time-based and spectral-based measures to track change following voice disorder treatment and to serve as a possible treatment outcomes measure. Method: A weighted, four-factor acoustic algorithm consisting of shimmer, pitch sigma, the ratio of…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to conduct the initial psychometric analyses of the Communicative Participation Item Bank--a new self-report instrument designed to measure the extent to which communication disorders interfere with communicative participation. This item bank is intended for community-dwelling adults across a range of…

Purpose: The present study was a methodological study designed to reveal the dynamic mechanisms of phonation instability pressure (PIP) using bifurcation analysis. Phonation pressure range (PPR) was also proposed for assessing the pressure range of normal vocal fold vibrations. Method: The authors first introduced the concept of bifurcation on the…

The purpose of this study was to provide information concerning the possible early effects of smoking on measures of respiratory capacity and control in young adult female smokers vs. nonsmokers. In particular, maximum performance test results (vital capacity and maximum phonation time) and measures of air pressures and airflows during voiceless,…

In the present study, voice onset time (VOT) measurements were compared between a group of individuals with moderate Alzheimer's disease (AD) and a group of healthy age- and gender-matched peers. Participants read a list of consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words, which included the six stop consonants. The VOT measurements were made from…

Aims: To compare voice quality as defined by formant analysis using a sustained vowel in patients who have undergone a partial glossectomy with a group of normal subjects. Methods & Procedures: The design consisted of a single centre, cross-sectional cohort study. The setting was an Adult Tertiary Referral Unit. A total of 26 patients (19…

In 10 years of school district voice clinics, 249 cases were reviewed. Vocal nodules, chronic laryngitis and thickened cords were frequently noted. One-third of the cases had concomitant allergies, ear, and/or upper respiratory problems. Direct voice therapy was recommended for 65 percent of attendees. (Author/CL)

The aim of the present study was to investigate knowledge about the voice and voice care in teacher-training students. A voice care questionnaire was administered to teacher-training students (N = 184) and students of other professions (N = 143). Discriminant analysis demonstrated that the teacher-training students' knowledge was significantly…

Questionnaire responses from 146 high school cheerleaders indicated that acute, cheering-related dysphonia may be preceded or accompanied by a set of clinical signs that could be incorporated easily into a screening protocol for prospective cheerleaders. (Author/DB)

The study investigated the Lombard effect (evoking increased speech intensity by applying masking noise to ears of talker) on the speech of esophageal talkers, artificial larynx users, and normal speakers. The noise condition produced the highest intensity increase in the esophageal speakers. (Author/DB)

Aerodynamic measures are frequently used to analyse and document pathological voices. Some normative data are available for speakers from the English-speaking population. However, no data are available yet for Chinese speakers despite the fact that they are one of the largest populations in the world. The high variability of aerodynamic measures…