Objective and perceptual assessment of voice quality in persons with unilateral vocal fold paralysis

Sa？etak The aim of this study is to determine the vocal characteristics of patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis before and after voice therapy. Voice assessment refers to a perceptual and objective evaluation that includes acoustic analysis and aerodynamic voice measurements. This study included 9 female patients aged between 27 and 66 years. Recordings of conversational speech were used for the perceptual evaluation of voice, which was assessed by three speech and language therapists experienced in the field of voice pathology. Recorded samples of phonation were analyzed using the Praat programme for acoustic voice analysis. All collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests. The results of this study demonstrate a significant difference between perceptual evaluations of voice before and after voice therapy in the form of improved voice quality. According to the perceptual evaluation, the voices of all patients were normal or slightly hoarse following therapy. Objective differences were also found before and after voice therapy. For shimmer, jitter and maximum phonation time values, these differences were statistically significant. The results of both perceptual and objective evaluations indicate the importance of voice therapy for people with unilateral vocal fold paralysis. Voice therapy is a noninvasive form of rehabilitation and should be the first choice for patients who experience dysphonia as the most severe symptom of unilateral vocal fold paralysis