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(1) Background: The CEECCA questionnaire assesses the ability to communicate among individuals with aphasia. It was designed using the NANDA-I and NOC standardised nursing languages (SNLs), reaching high content validity index and representativeness index values. The questionnaire was pilot-tested, demonstrating its feasibility for use by nurses in any healthcare setting. This study aims to identify the psychometric properties of this instrument. (2) Methods: 47 individuals with aphasia recruited from primary and specialist care facilities. The instrument was tested for construct validity and criterion validity, reliability, internal consistency, and responsiveness. The NANDA-I and NOC SNLs and the Boston test were used for criterion validity testing. (3) Results: 5 language dimensions explain 78.6% of the total variance. Convergent criterion validity tests showed concordances of up to 94% (Cohen’s κ: 0.9; p

OBJECTIVE The goal of this study is to analyze the voice in patients with thyroid pathology through two objective indexes with great diagnostic accuracy. Overall vocal quality was evaluated with the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI v.03.01) and the breathy voice with the Acoustic Breathiness Index (ABI). DESIGN Observational case-control study. SETTING Hospital Universitario Nuestra Senora de Candelaria. PARTICIPANTS Fifty-eight subjects, 29 controls and 29 thyroidectomy candidates. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES All participants with thyroid pathology completed the Spanish version of Voice Handicap Index-10. Also, patient complaints relating to possible laryngeal dysfunction were assessed through closed questions. A sustained vowel and three phonetically balanced sentences were recorded for each subject (118 samples). AVQI v.03.01 and ABI were assessed using the Praat program. Two raters perceptually evaluated each voice sample by using the Grade parameter of GRABS scale. RESULTS Acoustic analysis shows that 55.17% of subjects present values above the pathological threshold of the AVQI, and 58.62% above that of the ABI. Results of the Student's test comparisons of the AVQI and ABI values between the control group and the thyroid group show significantly higher values of AVQI (t[56] = -3.85, p

Una de las metas a lograr en el campo clínico de la audioprótesis es alcanzar un nivel de escucha del habla cómodo e inteligible. Para lograr este objetivo se han creado señales de referencia basadas en el promedio del espectro del habla con las que poder evaluar la ganancia del los audífonos. El sexo, la edad, la localización del micrófono o la lengua son variables que influyen en el registro de esta medida. En este artículo revisamos la influencia de estos factores y presentamos las posibles aplicaciones audiológicas y audioprotésicas de este tipo de señales.

Background The evaluation of voice quality with acoustic measurements is useful to objectify the diagnostic process. Particularly, breathiness was highly evaluated and the Acoustic Breathiness Index (ABI) might have promising features. Objective of review The goal of the present meta-analysis is to quantify, from existing cross-validation studies, the evidence for the diagnostic accuracy of ABI, including its sensitivity and specificity. Type of review Meta-analysis. Search strategy We searched in MEDLINE, Google Scholar and Science Citation Index, and as manual search for the term Acoustic Breathiness Index from inception to February 2020. Studies were included that used equal proportion of continuous speech and sustained vowel segments, a recording hardware with a sufficient standard for voice signal analyses, the software Praat for signal processing and the customised Praat script, and two groups of subjects (vocally healthy and voice-disordered). Furthermore, the diagnostic accuracy of ABI was measured. Evaluation method The primary outcome variable was ABI. The score ranged from 0 to 10 with varying thresholds according to different languages to determine the absence or presence of breathiness. A meta-analysis was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses of diagnostic test accuracy study guidelines. Data were extracted, and the risk of bias was assessed using the QUADAS-2 tool. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of ABI were determined using a summary receiver operating characteristic (SROC) approach to calculate also a weighted threshold value of ABI with its sensitivity and specificity. Results A total of 34 unique citations were screened, and 10 full-text articles were reviewed, including six studies. In total, 3603 voice samples were considered for further analysis separating into 467 vocally healthy and 3136 voice-disordered voice samples. The pooled sensitivity was 0.84 (95% CI, 0.83-0.85), and the pooled specificity was 0.92 (95% CI, 0.89-0.94). The area under the curve of the SROC curve of this analysis showed an excellent value of 0.94. The weighted ABI threshold was determined at 3.40 (sensitivity: 0.86, 95% CI, 0.84-0.87.; specificity: 0.90, 95% CI 0.88-0.92). Conclusions The results confirm the ABI as robust and valid objective measure for evaluating breathiness.

Introduction and objectives In recent years, the use of cepstral measures for acoustic evaluation of voice has increased. One of the most investigated parameters is smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPs). The objectives of this paper are to establish the usefulness of this acoustic measure in the objective evaluation of alterations of the voice in Spanish and to determine what type of voice sample (sustained vowels or connected speech) is the most sensitive in evaluating the severity of dysphonia. Method Forty subjects participated in this study 40, 20 controls and 20 with dysphonia. Two voice samples were recorded for each subject (one sustained vowel/a/and four phonetically balanced sentences) and the CPPs was calculated using the Praat programme. Three raters perceptually evaluated the voice sample with the Grade parameter of GRABS scale. Results Significantly lower values were found in the dysphonic voices, both for/a/(t[38]=4.85, P Conclusion The results of this preliminary study suggest that CPPs is a good measure to detect dysphonia and to objectively assess the severity of alterations in the voice.

Resumen Introduccion y objetivos En los ultimos anos se ha incrementado el uso de medidas cepstrales para la evaluacion acustica de la voz. Uno de los parametros mas investigados es la prominencia del pico cepstral suavizado (CPPs). Los objetivos de este trabajo son conocer la utilidad de esta medida acustica en la evaluacion objetiva de las alteraciones de la voz en espanol y determinar que tipo de muestra de voz (vocales sostenidas o habla conectada) es la mas sensible para evaluar la severidad de la disfonia. Metodo En este estudio participaron 40 sujetos, 20 normofonicos y 20 con disfonia. Se grabaron 2 muestras de voz para cada sujeto (una/a/sostenida y 4 frases foneticamente balanceadas) y se calculo la CPPs con el programa Praat. Tres expertos valoraron perceptivamente la voz de la muestra con el parametro grado de la escala GRABS. Resultados Se encontraron valores significativamente menores en las voces disfonicas, tanto para la/a/(t [38] = 4,85, p [38] = 5,75, p s = –0,73) y moderada con la calculada a partir de la vocal sostenida (r s = –0,56). Conclusion Los resultados de este estudio preliminar apuntan a que la CPPs es una buena medida para detectar la disfonia y para evaluar objetivamente el grado de severidad de las alteraciones en la voz.

Resumen Las transiciones representan el movimiento del tracto vocal desde la configuracion articulatoria de la consonante a la de la vocal. El analisis acustico de la velocidad de estas transiciones en el segundo formante es un procedimiento utilizado en la evaluacion e investigacion del habla disartrica, ya que aporta informacion sobre los movimientos de la lengua en la articulacion. El objetivo de este trabajo es estudiar los valores de la velocidad de las transiciones en diptongos a traves de las pendientes del segundo formante y establecer su relacion con la severidad de la disartria. Participaron 12 sujetos con disartria ataxica y 10 neurologicamente sanos. Se obtuvieron las caracteristicas de las transiciones del segundo formante en los diptongos de las palabras causa, piojo y tierra, y se estudio la relacion de las pendientes con los valores obtenidos en la escala de inteligibilidad para alteraciones motoras del habla. Los resultados muestran pendientes significativamente menores en el grupo disartrico en las transiciones de los diptongos de las 3 palabras estudiadas. En relacion a la severidad de la disartria, se encontraron correlaciones altas con la escala de inteligibilidad utilizada. El analisis acustico de la velocidad de las transiciones del segundo formante ha demostrado ser una herramienta util en la evaluacion objetiva de la disartria. Proporciona informacion sobre la severidad de las alteraciones motoras del habla y aporta datos objetivos sobre la progresion de la terapia logopedica.

Objective: The aim of this study was to validate the Acoustic Voice Quality Index 03.01 (AVQIv3) and the Acoustic Breathiness Index (ABI) in the Spanish language. Method: Concatenated voice samples of continuous speech (cs) and sustained vowel (sv) from 136 subjects with dysphonia and 47 vocally healthy subjects were perceptually judged for overall voice quality and breathiness severity. First, to reach a higher level of ecological validity, the proportions of cs and sv were equalized regarding the time length of 3 seconds sv part and voiced cs part, respectively. Second, concurrent validity and diagnostic accuracy were verified. Results: A moderate reliability of overall voice quality and breathiness severity from 5 experts was used. It was found that 33 syllables as standardization of the cs part, which represents 3 seconds of voiced cs, allows the equalization of both speech tasks. A strong correlation was revealed between AVQIv3 and overall voice quality and ABI and perceived breathiness severity. Additionally, the best diagnostic outcome was identified at a threshold of 2.28 and 3.40 for AVQIv3 and ABI, respectively. Conclusions: The AVQIv3 and ABI showed in the Spanish language valid and robust results to quantify abnormal voice qualities regarding overall voice quality and breathiness severity.

In recent years, the use of cepstral measures for acoustic evaluation of voice has increased. One of the most investigated parameters is smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPs). The objectives of this paper are to establish the usefulness of this acoustic measure in the objective evaluation of alterations of the voice in Spanish and to determine what type of voice sample (sustained vowels or connected speech) is the most sensitive in evaluating the severity of dysphonia.Forty subjects participated in this study 40, 20 controls and 20 with dysphonia. Two voice samples were recorded for each subject (one sustained vowel/a/and four phonetically balanced sentences) and the CPPs was calculated using the Praat programme. Three raters perceptually evaluated the voice sample with the Grade parameter of GRABS scale.Significantly lower values were found in the dysphonic voices, both for/a/(tThe results of this preliminary study suggest that CPPs is a good measure to detect dysphonia and to objectively assess the severity of alterations in the voice.

The smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS) is an acoustic measure that can be calculated in both sustained vowels and continuous speech. The goal of this work is to find out the diagnostic accuracy of CPPS in the detection of dysphonia in Spanish. In this study 136 subjects with dysphonia and 47 healthy subjects participated. For each subject a sustained vowel and the reading of three phonetically balanced sentences were recorded. The CPPS was calculated with Praat using its default configuration (configuration 1), and also with the one used in the calculation of the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (configuration 2). Five experts perceptively assessed the voice of the subjects in the sample by means of the GRABS scale. The CPPS has a great power of discrimination between the normal and the pathological voice, whether it is calculated from the sustained vowel /a/ (AROC[config. 1] = 0.863 and AROC[config. 2] = 0.841) or whether it is calculated from the sentences (AROC[config. 1] = 0.884 and AROC[config. 2] = 0.866). The results confirm that CPPS is a valid acoustic measurement to detect dysphonia in the Spanish language. Los parámetros derivados de la métrica cepstral son cada vez más utilizados en la evaluación acústica de la voz, ya sea como medidas únicas o como parte de índices multivariados. El pico cepstral de mayor prominencia en el cepstrum suavizado (CPPS) ha demostrado en multitud de estudios ser la única medida acústica con la suficiente validez concurrente en la evaluación de la severidad de las alteraciones de la voz tanto en muestras de vocal sostenida como en muestras de habla continua. El objetivo de este trabajo es conocer la precisión diagnóstica del CPPS en la detección de la disfonía en español. Se utilizó la configuración que viene por defecto en Praat y la usada en el cálculo del Acoustic Voice Quality Index. Los resultados confirman que el CPPS es una medida acústica válida para detectar la disfonía en español tanto con vocal sostenida como con frases.