Department of Communication Disorders, Unifesp Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; CEV, Centro de Estudos da Voz, São Paulo, Brazil.
CEV, Centro de Estudos da Voz, São Paulo, Brazil.
J Voice. 2022 Jul;36(4):582.e23-582.e32. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2020.07.010. Epub 2020 Aug 10.
To analyze the variations that different voice sample length (VSL) has on the perceived degree of voice quality deviation and on the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI) accuracy.
Voices of 71 subjects (53 dysphonic; 18 vocally health) were recorded: numbers 1-20 (42 syllables) + vowel/a/. Three different VSL were edited: VSL_long, 1-20 + 3 seconds vowel/a/; VSL_cust, customized length, were voiced-segments of the continuous speech had the same length of the vowel (mean = 18.73 syllables corresponding to 3 seconds of only-voiced segments) + 3 seconds vowel/a/; VSL_short, 1-10 (15 syllables) + 3 seconds vowel/a/. Three voice specialists perceptually judged the overall voice quality (G); 3 sessions were performed to evaluate each VSL variant. AVQI's precision and Spearman correlation were assessed.
The intra-rater reliability was "almost perfect" (kappa >0.826) for all evaluators in VSL_short; "substantial" (0.684) and "almost perfect" (0.897) in VSL_cust and "fair" (0.447) to "almost perfect" (1.000) in VSL_long. The inter-rater reliability was "moderate" (0.554) for VSL_long, "substantial" (0.622 and 0.618) for VSL_cust and VSL_short. The Gmean and AVQI_mean were perceived as more severe for longer samples and less severe for shorter samples. Considering the AVQI, VSL_short (r = 0.665) presented the higher correlation. VSL_cust presented the best area under the ROC curve (0.821). VSL_long and VSL_cust specificity was 100%, VSL_short specificity was 75%; higher sensitivity was observed for VSL_short (74%).
The voice quality outcomes changes for different VSLs. Longer VSLs seem to be perceived as more deviated, shorter VSLs seem to be more reliable and have better correlation with the acoustic analysis. The AVQI best accuracy was found at a customized length. Thus, to increase the voice analysis reliability, standardized procedure must be followed, including a precise speech material control allowing comparison among clinics and voice-centers.
分析不同语音样本长度（VSL）对感知音质偏差程度和声学语音质量指数（AVQI）准确性的影响。
对 71 名受试者（53 名发音障碍者；18 名嗓音健康者）的声音进行了录制：数字 1-20（42 个音节）+元音/a/。编辑了三种不同的 VSL：VSL_long，1-20+3 秒元音/a/；VSL_cust，自定义长度，连续语音中的语音段长度相同，元音长度为 3 秒（平均为 18.73 个音节，对应仅发声段的 3 秒）+3 秒元音/a/；VSL_short，1-10（15 个音节）+3 秒元音/a/。三位语音专家对整体语音质量（G）进行了感知判断；对每种 VSL 变体进行了 3 次评估。评估了 AVQI 的精度和 Spearman 相关性。
对于所有评估者，VSL_short 的内部评分者可靠性均为“几乎完美”（kappa>0.826）；VSL_cust 和 VSL_short 的可靠性为“良好”（0.447）至“几乎完美”（1.000）；VSL_long 的可靠性为“几乎完美”（0.897）。VSL_long 的组间可靠性为“中度”（0.554），VSL_cust 和 VSL_short 的组间可靠性为“良好”（0.622 和 0.618）。较长样本的 Gmean 和 AVQI_mean 被认为更严重，较短样本的 Gmean 和 AVQI_mean 被认为更不严重。考虑到 AVQI，VSL_short（r=0.665）的相关性更高。VSL_cust 的 ROC 曲线下面积（AUC）最佳（0.821）。VSL_long 和 VSL_cust 的特异性为 100%，VSL_short 的特异性为 75%；VSL_short 的敏感性更高（74%）。
不同 VSL 的语音质量结果发生了变化。较长的 VSL 似乎被感知为更偏差，较短的 VSL 似乎更可靠，与声学分析的相关性更好。在定制长度时，AVQI 具有最佳的准确性。因此，为了提高语音分析的可靠性，必须遵循标准化程序，包括对精确语音材料的控制，以便在诊所和嗓音中心之间进行比较。
