Comparison of Cepstral Analysis Based on Voiced-Segment Extraction and Voice Tasks for Discriminating Dysphonic and Normophonic Korean Speakers.

OBJECTIVES

This study investigated whether there are differences in the discriminatory power of cepstral analysis according to the voiced-segment extraction method and voice tasks used for identifying dysphonic and normophonic Korean individuals.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A total of 2,863 subjects (2,595 subjects with and 268 subjects without dysphonia) were included in this study. The 3-second sustained vowel (SV) /a/ and one sentence of "Sanchaek" were edited and analyzed using Praat scripts. Cepstral analyses (cepstral peak prominence [CPP], smoothed cepstral peak prominence [CPPS], and low/high spectral ratio [LHRatio]) were performed using three voice tasks, namely, SV, continuous speech (CS), and extracted continuous speech (EXT) samples. Additionally, auditory-perceptual (A-P) assessments were performed by three speech language pathologists.

RESULTS

Significant differences were found between dysphonic and normophonic voice groups for all cepstral parameters, except the LHRatio_EXT. Cepstral measurements of both SV and CS were highly correlated with A-P ratings. Furthermore, the diagnostic predictive power of CPP and CPPS for CS using the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was >0.919, the positive likelihood ratio (LR+) was ≥6.85, and the negative likelihood ratio (LR-) was ≤0.23. Additionally, for EXT, the AUC was >0.816, LR+ was 3.10, and LR- was ≤0.33.

CONCLUSION

Both CS and EXT can predict dysphonia relatively well (r > 0.816). EXT showed lower predictability than the original sample (CS) analysis. Subsequent studies should implement voiced-segment extraction methods using various algorithms.