Pitch Strength as an Outcome Measure for Treatment of Dysphonia.
Lisa M Kopf, Cristina Jackson-Menaldi, Adam D Rubin and 4 others
PMID 28318967WHAT IT FOUND
Computer estimates of voice pitch clarity rose after treatment, and the number of steady, near-regular vowel segments increased in 30 patients.
This may help track voice change, but the study did not compare pitch strength with clinician ratings or other measures.
Key findings
01Average pitch strength increased from 0.358 before treatment to 0.431 after treatment.
02The average count of nearly periodic Type 1 segments increased from 72.80 before treatment to 88.27 after treatment.
03The change in Type 1 segment counts differed significantly between the muscle tension dysphonia group and the vocal fold mass group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was retrospective and had no control group or random assignment to treatment, so it cannot show that treatment caused the pitch strength changes. Patients received different treatments, including voice therapy, surgery, and medication, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. The paper did not compare pitch strength with perceptual voice ratings in the same study, so its link to clinician judgement rests on prior work. The sample was small, with 30 patients and 10 in each diagnostic group. Treatment type, duration, and timing varied across patients. The authors say hardware, background noise, and recording parameters have not been systematically evaluated for this measure.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that pitch strength is a proven replacement for clinician ratings or that treatment caused the change. The study did not compare pitch strength with perceptual voice ratings, used mixed treatments, and only showed change over time.