ABSTRACT
Purpose
To assess the performance of the phonatory deviation diagram and its measurements in monitoring voice quality before and after voice exercise in individuals with Parkinson's Disease.
Methods
Retrospective and documentary study. A sample of 30 subjects was used, 50% male, with a mean age of 62.13 ± 9.05 years. The results of the phonatory deviation diagram were analyzed, in the moments before and after vocal exercise with the pushing technique associated with plosive sounds, considering the area, density, shape and location of the diagram in the quadrants. For comparison purposes, the acoustic parameters of jitter, shimmer, glottal to noise excitation ratio and results of the auditory-perceptual analysis, carried out in previous research, were also considered, in the pre- and post-technical moments.
Results
Despite the fact that there was no difference in the distribution of samples in the diagram, after performing the vocal technique, a change in the displacement of the diagram towards the area of normality was identified in the visual qualitative analysis, and there was an association between the general degree of vocal deviation in the analysis auditory perception and the area of the diagram. There was an improvement in the shimmer values after the vocal technique.
Conclusion
The displacement of the phonatory deviation diagram towards the area of normality corroborated the results in relation to the general degree of dysphonia, evaluated by the auditory-perceptual analysis and the shimmer results, after the vocal technique. Thus, the diagram shows good performance in monitoring voice quality of individuals with Parkinson’s.
Keywords:
Voice; Parkinson Disease; Voice Quality; Acoustics; Speech, Language and Hearing; Sciences
RESUMO
Objetivo
Verificar o desempenho do diagrama de desvio fonatório e de suas medidas no monitoramento da qualidade da voz, pré e pós exercício vocal, em indivíduos com Doença de Parkinson.
Método
Estudo retrospectivo e documental. Utilizou-se uma amostra de 30 sujeitos, sendo 50% do sexo masculino, com média de idade de 62,13 ± 9,05 anos. Foram analisados os resultados do diagrama de desvio fonatório, nos momentos pré e pós exercício vocal com a técnica de empuxo associada aos sons plosivos, considerando-se a área, densidade, forma e localização do diagrama nos quadrantes. Para fins de comparação, os parâmetros acústicos de jitter, shimmer, glottal to noise excitation ratio e resultados da análise perceptivo-auditiva, realizada em pesquisa anterior, também foram considerados, nos momentos pré e pós-técnica.
Resultados
A despeito de não ocorrer diferença na distribuição das amostras no diagrama, após realização da técnica vocal, foi identificada, na análise qualitativa visual, mudança no deslocamento do diagrama em direção à área de normalidade e houve associação entre o grau geral do desvio vocal da análise perceptivoauditiva e a área do diagrama. Houve melhora nos valores de shimmer, após a técnica vocal.
Conclusão
O deslocamento do diagrama de desvio fonatório em direção à área de normalidade corroborou os resultados em relação ao grau geral de disfonia avaliado pela análise perceptivoauditiva e os resultados de shimmer, após a técnica vocal empregada. Desse modo, o diagrama de desvio fonatório apresentou bom desempenho no monitoramento da qualidade vocal de indivíduos com Parkinson.
Descritores:
Voz; Doença de Parkinson; Qualidade da Voz; Acústica; Fonoaudiologia
INTRODUCTION
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative pathology that affects dopamine production due to the early death of dopaminergic neurons(11 Radhakrishnan DM, Goyal V. Parkinson’s disease: A review. Neurol India. 2018;66(7, Suppl):26-35. http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0028-3886.226451. PMid:29503325.
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,22 Marques NGS, Oliveira MIS, Alves MN, Leão SS, Souza SDB, Lopes GS. Parkinson’s disease: the main damages caused in the individual. Res. Soc Dev. 2020;9(10):e37491110023. http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i11.10023.
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). PD patients develop symptoms such as tremor at rest, stiffness, slow movements (bradykinesia), and postural changes(33 Cabreira V, Massano J. Parkinson’s disease: clinical review and update. Acta Med Port. 2019;32(10):661-70. http://dx.doi.org/10.20344/amp.11978. PMid:31625879.
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,44 Mascarenhas NFP, Souza ZM, Krauspenhar C, Cardoso DAN, Santos MRM, Marques MF, et al. Doença de Parkinson: uma pequena revisão. Revista Científica Eletrônica de Ciências Sociais Aplicadas EDUVALE. 2020;1806:41-8.). Their speech(55 Fernandes HCO, Scarpat LT, Carvalho MM, Oliveira ND, Salim RNH, Souza RR, et al. Depressão entre idosos portadores de doença de Parkinson: opinião dos membros da Associação Capixaba de Parkinson. Revista de APS. 2019;22(3):554-73.
6 Juste FS, Andrade CRF. Speech fluency profile on different tasks for individuals with Parkinson's disease. CoDAS. 2017;29(4):e20160130. PMid:28746463.-77 Felisette RCM, Silva EGF, Ferreira LP. Proposal of speech therapy approach with theater game in Parkinson’s Disease: case study. Rev Kairós. 2017;20(1):337-52. http://dx.doi.org/10.23925/2176-901X.2017v20i1p337-352.
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) and voices(88 Berenguer MP, Briones HAY. Speech disorders in Parkinson’s Disease [review]. Rev. Cient. Cienc. Med. 2019;22(1):36-42.) can also be affected, characterized by reduced vocal fold movements and articulatory amplitude, resulting in imprecise speech, at an irregular rate, and with phonatory instability(99 Behlau M, Madazio G, Feijó D, Azevedo R, Gielow I, Rehder MI. Aperfeiçoamento vocal e tratamento fonoaudiológico das disfonias. In: Behlau M, editor. Voz: o livro do especialista. Rio de Janeiro: Revinter, 2005, p. 409-564.).
Voice disorders generally have multidimensional manifestations, which justifies the recommendation for clinicians to include clinical and instrumental assessments(1010 Umeno H, Hyodo M, Haji T, Hara H, Imaizumi M, Ishige M, et al. A summary of the clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis and management of voice disorders, 2018 in Japan. Auris Nasus Larynx. 2020;47(1):7-17. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anl.2019.09.004. PMid:31587820.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anl.2019.09....
). Speech-language-hearing clinical assessment involves the auditory-perceptual judgment of the voice quality and the investigation of vocal behavior. Complementarily, the instrumental approach may include acoustic assessment, allowing inferences on the characteristics of the vocal signal and underlying physiological mechanisms(1111 Fabbron EMG, Spazzapan EA, Pereira MCB, Marino VCC, Onofri SMM. Avaliação da voz em idosos. In: Giacheti CM, editor. Avaliação da fala e da linguagem: perspectivas interdisciplinares em Fonoaudiologia. São Paulo: Cultura Acadêmica Editora; 2020. p. 371-96. http://dx.doi.org/10.36311/2020.978-65-86546-87-3.p371-396.
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).
The acoustic analysis takes measures or performs a visual qualitative analysis. Such measures encompass classical ones, such as jitter, shimmer, fundamental frequency, and glottal noise measures. The visual inspection can be made with spectrography or other tools - such as the phonatory deviation diagram (PDD) - that enable a visual analysis of the vocal signal(1212 Michaelis D, Fröhlich M, Strube HW. Selection and combination of acoustic features for the description of pathologic voices. J Acoust Soc Am. 1998;103(3):1628-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.421305. PMid:9514027.
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).
PDD or hoarseness diagram (as originally proposed)(1212 Michaelis D, Fröhlich M, Strube HW. Selection and combination of acoustic features for the description of pathologic voices. J Acoust Soc Am. 1998;103(3):1628-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.421305. PMid:9514027.
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) is a multivariate acoustic analysis tool, whose bidimensional chart relates acoustic measures - jitter, shimmer, correlation, and glottal-to-noise excitation ratio (GNE) - obtained from the vocal signal. The diagram provides a visual qualitative analysis, verifying the voice displacement in PDD, also enabling descriptions parameters (area, quadrant, density, and shape)(1313 Madazio G, Leão S, Behlau M. The phonatory deviation diagram: a novel objective measurement of vocal function. Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2011;63(6):305-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027. PMid:21625144.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027...
). PDD has been used to monitor patients with sequelae of head and neck cancer, vocal fold paralysis, and so on(1414 Fröhlich M, Michaelis D, Strube HW, Kruse E. Acoustic voice analysis by means of the hoarseness diagram. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2000;43(3):706-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4303.706. PMid:10877440.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4303.706...
).
Monitoring voices with extreme deviations poses a challenge to voice-related research and clinical practice, as highly disturbed voices cannot be analyzed with classical acoustic measures(1414 Fröhlich M, Michaelis D, Strube HW, Kruse E. Acoustic voice analysis by means of the hoarseness diagram. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2000;43(3):706-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4303.706. PMid:10877440.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4303.706...
). PDD, on the other hand, enables the assessment of more deviated signals and is, therefore, an alternative to assess them(1515 Lopes LW, Freitas JA, Almeida AA, Silva POC, Alves GAS. Performance of the phonatory deviation diagram in the evaluation of rough and breathy synthesized voices. Rev Bras Otorrinolaringol (Engl Ed). 2018;84(4):460-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.05.012. PMid:28732642.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.0...
) - although the main contribution of this tool is the possibility of monitoring patients before and after interventions(1616 Pifaia LR, Madazio G, Behlau M. Phonatory Deviation Diagram pre and post vocal rehabilitation. CoDAS. 2013;25(2):141-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013000200009. PMid:24408243.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013...
).
Most studies(1212 Michaelis D, Fröhlich M, Strube HW. Selection and combination of acoustic features for the description of pathologic voices. J Acoust Soc Am. 1998;103(3):1628-39. http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.421305. PMid:9514027.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.421305...
,1414 Fröhlich M, Michaelis D, Strube HW, Kruse E. Acoustic voice analysis by means of the hoarseness diagram. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2000;43(3):706-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4303.706. PMid:10877440.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4303.706...
,1616 Pifaia LR, Madazio G, Behlau M. Phonatory Deviation Diagram pre and post vocal rehabilitation. CoDAS. 2013;25(2):141-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013000200009. PMid:24408243.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013...
) that use PDD include the voices of patients with behavioral dysphonia, sequelae of head and neck cancer, or neurological laryngeal disorders. Thus, considering the ever-growing number of older people with PD(1717 Silva ABG, Pestana BC, Hirahata FAA, Horta FBS, Oliveira ESBE. Parkinson’s Disease: literature review. Brazilian Journal of Development. 2021;7(5):47677-98.), it is important to understand tools such as PDD that can instrumentally help assess improvements in the patient’s voice quality throughout the therapy.
Therefore, this study aimed to verify the performance of PDD and its measures in monitoring voice quality before and after vocal exercises in PD patients.
METHODS
Study design
This retrospective study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Department of Health Sciences at the Federal University of Pernambuco, under evaluation report no. 4.322.413. It was based on secondary data, whose database has voice records, auditory-perceptual analysis of the voices, and data on the collection participants regarding the characterization of the sample.
Sample
The research was developed from a database with samples of 30 PD patients - 15 males and 15 females -, with a mean age of 62.13 ± 9.05 years. Data were collected and analyzed in the voice laboratory of a public university in 2018 and 2019. Since it used the database of another research, approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee under evaluation report no. 3.060.851, this study was exempted from providing an informed consent form. The participant selection criteria were as follows: having the autonomy preserved, having a laryngeal examination with no structural changes, having vocal complaints, and being diagnosed with PD classified in stages I, II, or III, according to the Hoehn & Yahr (HY) scale(1818 Hoehn MM, Yahr MD. Parkinsonism: onset, progression and mortality. Neurology. 1967;17(5):427-42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.17.5.427. PMid:6067254.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1212/WNL.17.5.427...
). Individuals with other neurological diseases, motor disability, a history of head and neck surgery, smokers, alcohol consumers, with influenza and/or an allergic reaction, cognitive decline or communication disorders that might prevent them from understanding the intervention instructions, and laryngeal structural changes were excluded from the research.
The voice samples used in this research had been previously recorded and edited in a previous study(1919 Cruz TVS. Efeito imediato de técnica vocal associada a realidade virtual e a estímulo auditivo rítmico na voz de pessoas com Parkinson [dissertação]. Recife: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; 2020. ). They were recorded in VoxMetria software, with the sustained 5-second emission of vowel /ε/, in habitual frequency and intensity, before and immediately after a vocal intervention that consisted of pushing with plosive sounds (syllable: pa) - a technique that aims to improve glottal closure(99 Behlau M, Madazio G, Feijó D, Azevedo R, Gielow I, Rehder MI. Aperfeiçoamento vocal e tratamento fonoaudiológico das disfonias. In: Behlau M, editor. Voz: o livro do especialista. Rio de Janeiro: Revinter, 2005, p. 409-564.). The intervention exercises lasted 3 minutes and 2 seconds - 3 minutes of exercises divided into three 1-minute stages and 20 seconds divided into two 10-second pauses between them.
The recordings were likewise edited in VoxMetria, eliminating the first and last seconds of emission, due to their greater irregularity, remaining the middle 3 seconds(1919 Cruz TVS. Efeito imediato de técnica vocal associada a realidade virtual e a estímulo auditivo rítmico na voz de pessoas com Parkinson [dissertação]. Recife: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; 2020. ).
Database analysis
Auditory-perceptual analysis results and sample characterization data were initially collected from the database of the previous research.
Based on the edited vowel /ε/ recordings, this study analyzed PDD and parameters (jitter, shimmer, correlation, and GNE) extracted from VoxMetria. Also, PDD results obtained in this study were compared with auditory-perceptual analysis results, recorded before and after the intervention with the vocal technique.
The auditory-perceptual analysis of the voice samples was performed by speech-language-hearing therapists who specialized in voice with a visual analog scale(2020 Martins PC, Couto TE, Gama ACC. Auditory-perceptual evaluation of the degree of vocal deviation: correlation between the Visual Analogue Scale and Numerical Scale. CoDAS. 2015;27(3):279-84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-1782/20152014167. PMid:26222946.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-1782/2015...
). The interrater agreement index with the kappa test was 0,545, with a p-value =< 0.001. As described in the study whose database was used in this research(1919 Cruz TVS. Efeito imediato de técnica vocal associada a realidade virtual e a estímulo auditivo rítmico na voz de pessoas com Parkinson [dissertação]. Recife: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; 2020. ), it considered the assessments of the judge whose intrarater agreement was 0.746, deemed substantial in the kappa test.
Acoustic analysis
As previously mentioned, PDD was extracted from the vowel /ε/ records edited and recorded in Voxmetria. PDD analyzes noise and perturbation parameters in combination, based on four acoustic measures: jitter, shimmer, correlation, and GNE(1313 Madazio G, Leão S, Behlau M. The phonatory deviation diagram: a novel objective measurement of vocal function. Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2011;63(6):305-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027. PMid:21625144.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027...
,1515 Lopes LW, Freitas JA, Almeida AA, Silva POC, Alves GAS. Performance of the phonatory deviation diagram in the evaluation of rough and breathy synthesized voices. Rev Bras Otorrinolaringol (Engl Ed). 2018;84(4):460-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.05.012. PMid:28732642.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.0...
,1616 Pifaia LR, Madazio G, Behlau M. Phonatory Deviation Diagram pre and post vocal rehabilitation. CoDAS. 2013;25(2):141-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013000200009. PMid:24408243.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013...
). Jitter assesses instabilities in standard vocal fold oscillation, quantifying frequency variations cycle by cycle, while shimmer quantifies changes in the phonatory cycle amplitude(2121 Verde L, Pietro G, Sannino G. Voice disorder identification by using machine learning techniques. IEEE Access. 2018;6:16246-55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2018.2816338.
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). This research extracted PDD to analyze the distribution of vocal signals per area, quadrant, density, and shape, furnished by the software.
Concerning distribution per area, PDD indicates whether the voice sample is within the normal area (Figure 1). Regarding density, the points of vocal signal distribution are classified as concentrated when they occupy a space corresponding to one square (Figure 1). When the voice sample is distributed into more than one PDD square, vocal signals are classified as amplified(1313 Madazio G, Leão S, Behlau M. The phonatory deviation diagram: a novel objective measurement of vocal function. Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2011;63(6):305-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027. PMid:21625144.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027...
,1616 Pifaia LR, Madazio G, Behlau M. Phonatory Deviation Diagram pre and post vocal rehabilitation. CoDAS. 2013;25(2):141-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013000200009. PMid:24408243.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013...
). The researcher classified them as either concentrated or amplified by using a common 10-cm ruler.
As for shape, the vocal signal is identified as vertical (when the points cover a longer distance along the vertical line than the horizontal one [y>x]), horizontal (when such distance is greater in the horizontal than the vertical line [x>y]), or circular (when such distances are approximately the same in the vertical and horizontal lines)(1313 Madazio G, Leão S, Behlau M. The phonatory deviation diagram: a novel objective measurement of vocal function. Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2011;63(6):305-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027. PMid:21625144.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027...
). The shapes were also classified by using the 10-cm ruler. Lastly, PDD was divided into four equal quadrants for distribution into lower-left (1), lower-right (2), upper-right (3), and upper-left (4) (Figure 2)(1313 Madazio G, Leão S, Behlau M. The phonatory deviation diagram: a novel objective measurement of vocal function. Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2011;63(6):305-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027. PMid:21625144.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027...
,1515 Lopes LW, Freitas JA, Almeida AA, Silva POC, Alves GAS. Performance of the phonatory deviation diagram in the evaluation of rough and breathy synthesized voices. Rev Bras Otorrinolaringol (Engl Ed). 2018;84(4):460-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.05.012. PMid:28732642.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.0...
,1616 Pifaia LR, Madazio G, Behlau M. Phonatory Deviation Diagram pre and post vocal rehabilitation. CoDAS. 2013;25(2):141-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013000200009. PMid:24408243.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013...
).
Besides analyzing vocal signal distribution per area, quadrant, density, and shape, visual qualitative analysis was performed, verifying PDD displacement in the chart after applying the technique.
Statistical data analysis
All data were recorded in a 2007 Windows Excel spreadsheet for statistical analysis. Data were organized in a database and analyzed with descriptive statistics.
The Shapiro-Wilk normality test was used to verify whether the sample had a normal distribution, rejecting the hypothesis of normality when p < 0.05. Since the distribution was not normal, the Wilcoxon test was used to compare acoustic parameter values before and after the vocal technique. Homogeneity tests known as chi-square tests were used to verify whether there were differences between frequencies before and after the vocal exercises in each PDD configuration measure.
Association comparison tests (conditional independence) known as Mantel-Haenszel tests were used to assess whether the relationship between auditory-perceptual measures and PDD configuration measures was affected after performing the technique. In all analyses, the level of significance was set at 5%, with a 95% confidence interval.
RESULTS
The clinical characteristics of PD patients in this research were as follows: regarding the disease stage on the HY scale, 30% were in stage I, 30% were in stage II, and 40% were in stage III. As for clinical type, 53.33% had tremor, 23.33% had stiffness, 6.67% had bradykinesia, and 16.67% has a combination of these.
Table 1 presents the acoustic parameters before and after the vocal technique. Shimmer was the only one that improved after using this vocal technique.
PDD area, density, quadrant, and shape configurations before and after the vocal technique are shown in Table 2. The analysis indicated no difference in the distribution of the voice samples after performing the vocal technique. It is important to point out that part of the voices - 14 before and 13 after the technique - was distributed into more than one quadrant. Thus, the total number of voices in the quadrants is greater than that of the sample subjects.
Area, density, quadrant, and shape configurations of the phonatory deviation diagram before and after the vocal technique (n: 30)
Table 3 shows the relationship between the general degree of vocal deviation and the PDD area before and after the vocal technique. The analysis identified changes in the relationship after the vocal technique - i.e., the number of voices in the neutral and mild degrees increased, while those in the moderate and intense ones decreased. Nonetheless, most voices were still outside the normal area after the technique.
Relationship between the general degree of vocal deviation and the area of the phonatory deviation diagram before and after the vocal technique (n: 30)
The qualitative analysis verified PDD displacement in the chart to the lower-left quadrant - i.e., closer to the quadrant that represents normality - in 70.58% of the cases after using the technique.
One of the study participant’s diagrams before and after the technique (Figure 3) was selected to illustrate voice displacement after the vocal technique. It shows that the voice sample is outside the normal area before and after the vocal technique. Qualitatively, it can be observed that PDD displaced to the left in the horizontal axis after the vocal technique.
DISCUSSION
PDD is an alternative tool to assess and monitor interventions in extremely deviated voices(1414 Fröhlich M, Michaelis D, Strube HW, Kruse E. Acoustic voice analysis by means of the hoarseness diagram. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2000;43(3):706-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4303.706. PMid:10877440.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4303.706...
15 Lopes LW, Freitas JA, Almeida AA, Silva POC, Alves GAS. Performance of the phonatory deviation diagram in the evaluation of rough and breathy synthesized voices. Rev Bras Otorrinolaringol (Engl Ed). 2018;84(4):460-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.05.012. PMid:28732642.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.0...
-1616 Pifaia LR, Madazio G, Behlau M. Phonatory Deviation Diagram pre and post vocal rehabilitation. CoDAS. 2013;25(2):141-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013000200009. PMid:24408243.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013...
). Hence, it can be used in PD patients, as decreases in articulation amplitude and voice quality and intensity are among these individuals’ main communication limitations(88 Berenguer MP, Briones HAY. Speech disorders in Parkinson’s Disease [review]. Rev. Cient. Cienc. Med. 2019;22(1):36-42.). Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the performance of PDD and its measures to monitor voice quality in PD patients, after the vocal technique of pushing with plosive sounds.
Hence, to base the PDD performance results, the analysis also included individual results of other acoustic parameters and of the auditory-perceptual analysis before and after the vocal technique. The shimmer mean values decreased, which was the only acoustic parameter with a statistically significant difference between means before and after the vocal technique.
Even though these results are above the cutoff (6.5%) for vocally healthy individuals, it can be inferred that improvements in shimmer values after the exercises are related to possible improvements in glottal resistance, as this parameter is sensitive to decreased glottal resistance and is correlated with voice roughness(2222 Lopes LW, Simões LB, Silva JD, Evangelista DS, Ugulino ACN, Silva POC, et al. Accuracy of Acoustic Analysis measurements in the evaluation of Patients with diferente laryngeal diagnoses. J Voice. 2017;31(3):382.e16-26. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2016.08.015. PMid:27742492.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2016....
). Improved glottal resistance is generally associated with increased vocal intensity - which is one of the main therapeutic goals in PD.
Jitter is a measure strongly correlated with the degree of vocal deviation(2323 Ma EPM, Yiu EML. Multiparametric evaluation of dysphonic severity. J Voice. 2006;20(3):380-90. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2005.04.007. PMid:16185841.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvoice.2005....
). There was no statistically significant difference in this study between jitter measures before and after the vocal exercise. Nevertheless, this parameter had normal values after the vocal technique, which can be a predictor of overall voice improvement. This result agrees with the auditory-perceptual analysis, as the number of voices in neutral and mild degrees increased and those in the moderate and intense ones decreased after the vocal technique.
It must be highlighted that most participants were older adults, who are expected to have worsened acoustic parameters due to morphological changes in the vocal folds(2424 Spazzapan EA, Marino VCC, Cardoso VM, Berti LC, Fabron EMG. Acoustic characteristics of voice in different cycles of life: an integrative literature review. Rev CEFAC. 2019;21(3):e15018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1982-0216/201921315018.
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). In addition to that, they had PD, in which jitter and shimmer significantly increase(2525 Chiaramonte R, Bonfiglio M. Análisis acústico de la voz en la enfermedad de Parkinson: revisión sistemática de la discapacidad vocal y metaanálisis de estudios. Rev Neurol. 2020;70(11):393-405. http://dx.doi.org/10.33588/rn.7011.2019414. PMid:32436206.
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).
Vocal signal distribution was analyzed per area, quadrant, density, and shape. The comparison before and after the vocal technique revealed no significant difference in the voice sample distribution after the exercises. However, many voices were already in the normal area, which may have influenced their proportion.
It must be also pointed out that the goal of speech-language-hearing therapy in neurodegenerative diseases is to provide communication alternatives, with strategies that improve symptoms as much as possible(2626 Cardoso TT, Luchesi KF. The difficulties in the care of the patient with neurodegenerative diseases: the speech-language therapist and the multi-professional team. Audiol Commun Res. 2019;24:e2063. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-6431-2018-2063.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-6431-2018...
). Thus, speech-language-hearing treatment can improve PD patients’ voices and minimize the impacts of the disease(2727 Vicco DC, Santos SMA, Gonçalves LHT. Análise acústica e perceptivo-auditiva da voz em pacientes parkinsonianos pré e pós-terapia fonoaudiológica. Cienc Cuid Saude. 2009;8(3):313-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.4025/cienccuidsaude.v8i3.9010.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4025/cienccuidsaude...
), though not necessarily bringing their voices back to a normal standard.
One of the principles of such therapy in PD is to obtain more efficient glottal closure and thus improve the hypophonic characteristic of the emission. This study observed PDD performance by analyzing the effects of a technique that favors glottal closure (pushing with plosive sounds)(99 Behlau M, Madazio G, Feijó D, Azevedo R, Gielow I, Rehder MI. Aperfeiçoamento vocal e tratamento fonoaudiológico das disfonias. In: Behlau M, editor. Voz: o livro do especialista. Rio de Janeiro: Revinter, 2005, p. 409-564.).
Unlike another study that analyzed PDD in different types of dysphonia before and after vocal treatment(1616 Pifaia LR, Madazio G, Behlau M. Phonatory Deviation Diagram pre and post vocal rehabilitation. CoDAS. 2013;25(2):141-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013000200009. PMid:24408243.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013...
), the present one did not find significant differences in the shape, density, or location in the quadrants between before and after the treatment. On the other hand, despite the absence of such differences in sample distribution, the qualitative analysis, considering proportions, found a trend toward PDD displacement to the left in the horizontal axis after the vocal technique.
This result shows good PDD performance to detect vocal improvement after the exercises, as such displacement brought the diagram to the region nearest to the normal area - which agrees with the acoustic findings of shimmer and overall voice improvements in the auditory-perceptual analysis results.
Furthermore, strained voices are known to tend toward the lower-left quadrant(1313 Madazio G, Leão S, Behlau M. The phonatory deviation diagram: a novel objective measurement of vocal function. Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2011;63(6):305-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027. PMid:21625144.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027...
). Thus, the vocal exercise increased phonatory effectiveness - i.e., decreased hypophonia. Therefore, PDD can be indicated to monitor vocal hypofunction in PD.
Before the vocal technique, most voices were in the lower-left quadrant, and this number increased after the vocal exercises. Many of the voices analyzed were distributed into more than one quadrant - mostly in the lower-left and lower-right ones, the latter being characteristic of rough voices(1313 Madazio G, Leão S, Behlau M. The phonatory deviation diagram: a novel objective measurement of vocal function. Folia Phoniatr Logop. 2011;63(6):305-11. http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027. PMid:21625144.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000327027...
). These findings corroborate the literature, which indicates that roughness is one of the main voice changes in PD(88 Berenguer MP, Briones HAY. Speech disorders in Parkinson’s Disease [review]. Rev. Cient. Cienc. Med. 2019;22(1):36-42.,99 Behlau M, Madazio G, Feijó D, Azevedo R, Gielow I, Rehder MI. Aperfeiçoamento vocal e tratamento fonoaudiológico das disfonias. In: Behlau M, editor. Voz: o livro do especialista. Rio de Janeiro: Revinter, 2005, p. 409-564.). This characteristic may be related to unstable vocal fold vibration present in this disease.
A study(1515 Lopes LW, Freitas JA, Almeida AA, Silva POC, Alves GAS. Performance of the phonatory deviation diagram in the evaluation of rough and breathy synthesized voices. Rev Bras Otorrinolaringol (Engl Ed). 2018;84(4):460-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.05.012. PMid:28732642.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.0...
) on PDD performance to assess synthesized rough voices also concluded that rougher ones are located in the lower-right quadrant. It also found that the PDD area and quadrant can discriminate rough voices from healthy ones. However, part of the neutral voices in the present study were outside the normal PDD before and after the technique.
Concerning the relationship between the general degree of vocal deviation and the PDD area, it was also noticed that most voices were already in the neutral and mild degrees before the vocal technique, whereas none of the voices was in the extreme degree. After the vocal exercises, the number of voices in the neutral and mild degrees increased and those in the moderate and intense ones decreased. As before the technique, none of the voices had extreme vocal deviation.
The case illustrated in the results shows that after the vocal technique, the voice displaced to the left in the horizontal axis but did not enter the normal area. The original authors of the hoarseness diagram analyzed the distribution of voices of individuals with different voice pathologies(1414 Fröhlich M, Michaelis D, Strube HW, Kruse E. Acoustic voice analysis by means of the hoarseness diagram. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2000;43(3):706-20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4303.706. PMid:10877440.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1044/jslhr.4303.706...
). A voice highly affected by laryngeal cancer surgery improved after vocal rehabilitation, causing it to significantly displace within PDD. However, after 3 months, it had not yet entered the normal area.
This agrees with the results of the present research. Although most voices in the neutral degree both before and after the vocal technique were inside the normal area proposed by PDD, some of them were outside it. Therefore, it must be considered that these voices had been affected by neurodegenerative disease and that the vocal technique would not necessarily bring them back to a normal standard. Rather, improves vocal efficiency to minimize the impact of the disease on the voice, as previously discussed.
Lastly, the limitations of this study include the sample size (n = 30), which, despite being near that of another study that analyzed PDD in dysphonic voices in general (n = 34)(1616 Pifaia LR, Madazio G, Behlau M. Phonatory Deviation Diagram pre and post vocal rehabilitation. CoDAS. 2013;25(2):141-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013000200009. PMid:24408243.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013...
), was quite smaller than the sample of research with synthesized voices (n = 871)(1515 Lopes LW, Freitas JA, Almeida AA, Silva POC, Alves GAS. Performance of the phonatory deviation diagram in the evaluation of rough and breathy synthesized voices. Rev Bras Otorrinolaringol (Engl Ed). 2018;84(4):460-72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.05.012. PMid:28732642.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bjorl.2017.0...
). On the other hand, it is a specific population with the same primary disease, though in different degrees, and the disease limits their possibilities of attending healthcare centers. From this perspective, the number of subjects was quite acceptable. Even so, the study should continue with a larger sample, also addressing different types of dysarthrophonia.
Moreover, there were no differences in the patients’ vocal signal distribution regarding description parameters before and after the intervention. In such cases, speech-language-hearing therapists should perform a visual qualitative analysis, observing the voice displacement in PDD quadrants as they monitor patients in therapy. It is important to reinforce that PDD facilitates the combined analysis of vocal acoustic results and portrays phonatory mechanisms patients are likely to use in speech(1616 Pifaia LR, Madazio G, Behlau M. Phonatory Deviation Diagram pre and post vocal rehabilitation. CoDAS. 2013;25(2):141-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013000200009. PMid:24408243.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2317-17822013...
), and the visual qualitative analysis suggested in this study can be useful in such clinical reasoning in these patients’ follow-ups.
Moreover, professionals can also use PDD as an auxiliary tool in therapy, especially to follow up on the progress of patients as a means of visual feedback for them, as they can verify the displacement in the diagram as their voices improve during treatment.
CONCLUSION
The distribution of patients’ vocal signals regarding description parameters (area, shape, density, and quadrant) was not different before and after the intervention. However, the visual qualitative analysis showed that the vocal signal displaced to the left in the horizontal axis toward a decrease in irregularity.
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Study conducted at Universidade Federal de Pernambuco - UFPE - Recife (PE), Brasil.
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Financial support: Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - Brasil (CAPES) - código de financiamento 001. Pró-Reitoria de Pós-Graduação da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco (PROPG-UFPE) - Edital 06/2022
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Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
17 July 2023 -
Date of issue
2023
History
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Received
01 Sept 2021 -
Accepted
04 Aug 2022