Auditory-Perceptual Validation of Acoustic Chaos Parameters in Healthy and Dysphonic Voices.

PURPOSE: Understanding the correlation between objective acoustic measurements and auditory-perceptual scales is essential for improving voice assessment methods. This study examines the relationship between voice type component profile (VTCP) and weighted index of dysphonia (WID) with the Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain Scale (GRBAS), and Consensus Auditory Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V) scales across both healthy and dysphonic voices.

METHOD: Audio samples used in this study were acquired using a publicly available Perceptual Voice Qualities Database. Pearson correlations were conducted between VTCP metrics and GRBAS and CAPE-V scales. To determine the pathological significance of these measures, t tests and logistic regressions were performed to identify key distinguishing variables between healthy and dysphonic subjects.

RESULTS

Results indicated that VTCP metrics have significant correlations with GRBAS and CAPE-V scales. VTC1 exhibited the strongest correlation with dysphonia grade and severity, reinforcing its role in representing overall voice quality. VTC4 demonstrated high correlations with breathiness, pitch, and overall severity, highlighting its significance in characterizing turbulent vocal signals. WID, representing a composite measure of VTCP parameters, was highly correlated with dysphonia grade and severity, further underscoring its potential clinical utility. Comparisons between CAPE-V and GRBAS revealed strong correlations, suggesting that both scales effectively capture similar perceptual dimensions of dysphonia, despite differences in rating methods. VTC1, VTC4, and WID emerged as the strongest indicators of pathology.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings support VTCP as a valuable objective measure of voice production, closely aligning with established perceptual assessment tools. The results highlight VTCP's potential for clinical implementation in dysphonia evaluation, complementing existing auditory-perceptual scales to enhance diagnostic precision and reliability.