Assessment of dysphonia: cepstral analysis versus conventional acoustic analysis.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we aimed to determine the extent to which smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS) can replace or complement the conventional acoustic measures of jitter, shimmer, and harmonic-to-noise ratio in the assessment of various types of dysphonia.

METHODOLOGY

A total of 60 males and 80 females were divided into two groups: dysphonic group and control group (30 males and 40 females in each group). The voice samples in the form of sustained vowel /a/ phonation and continuous speech were recorded and assessed using auditory perceptual analysis, acoustic analysis, and cepstral analysis.

RESULTS

Jitter was found to have the best predictive ability during sustained phonation, whereas CPPS was found to have the best predictive ability during continuous speech.

CONCLUSION

Cepstral analysis is as reliable as the conventional acoustic analysis in the diagnosis of dysphonia and to detect its severity. However, CPPS cannot replace conventional acoustic measures.