Correlations between automated dysphonia quantification and perceptual voice evaluation

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the feasibility and robustness of Lithuanian version of Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI-LT) for dysphonia quantification and it‘s correlations with auditory-perceptual judgment.

The AVQI-LT was calculated using the mixed gender database of voice recordings in this study containing 153 digital voice recordings of sustained phonation of the vowel sound /a/ and 13 syllables Lithuanian sentence. Five experienced physicians-laryngologists performed auditory-perceptual evaluations to quantify the vocal deviation. The results of the present study revealed significant and marked concurrent validity between two auditory-perceptual judgment procedures and AVQI-LT. Very strong and statistically significant correlations between AVQI-LT and all factors of auditory-perceptual voice assessment (including G, R and B) were achieved.

Conclusion. The AVQI-LT strongly correlates with auditory-perceptual voice assessment and is considered to be a valid and reliable tool for automated quantification of dysphonia in Lithuanian speaking population.