Tracking change in dysphonia: a case study.

This longitudinal case study of a woman with nodules examines the relationship between clinical and acoustic measures of change. Relative changes in voice quality, vocal fold condition, and patient symptoms were compared to measures of mean fundamental frequency (MFF), jitter, and fundamental frequency range (FFR). Seven assessments were performed over a 2-year period. The findings indicated that voice quality judgments tended to relate to changes in degree of vocal fold pathology and patient report of vocal function. However, acoustic measures of MFF, FFR, and jitter did not relate to measures of clinical change. The discussion focuses on explanations for the acoustic findings, the need for using connected speech samples for perceptual and acoustic analysis, and a suggestion for future study.