Disfluency in Spasmodic Dysphonia

Abstract

This study examined visual analog scaling (VAS) judgments of disfluency by normal listeners in response to oral reading by speakers with spasmodic dysphonia (SD) and by nondysphonic controls, as well as the variables of frequency of occurrence of disfluencies, speaking rate, number of reading errors, and temporal acoustic measures of interword interval duration and articulation time. MANOVA yielded statistically significant differences between SD and control speakers for all variables except reading errors. Although no significant fluency-related differences were observed in terms of type of vocal spasm or voice tremor, significant differences in disfluency measures were obtained for clinical ratings of severity of dysphonia. Greater dysphonia severity ratings were associated with decreased fluency, but milder ratings were not necessarily associated with disfluency. Stepwise multiple regression analysis demonstrated that frequency of disfluency occurrence, speaking rate, and reading errors accounted for more than three fourths of the variability in VAS judgments of disfluency. Findings suggest that although disfluency is not a defining feature of SD, it does contribute significantly to the overall clinical impression of severity of the disorder.

Everyday listeners’ impressions of speech produced by individuals with adductor spasmodic dysphonia

“…All of these dimensions have been used to describe ADSD speech in the literature (Cannito et al, 1997(Cannito et al, , 2012Zwirner et al, 1993). They also described speech characteristics that extended beyond voice quality; for example, participants noted ''misarticulations,'' choppiness and a halting manner consistent with the reduced intelligibility and voice breaks often associated with ADSD (Cannito et al, 1997). Listeners seemed to draw strong connections between the degree of vocal effort in a sample and its overall severity (Eadie et al, 2007;Zwirner et al, 1993).…”

“…For example, most participants mentioned the strained, hoarse, harsh, effortful voice quality of the samples. All of these dimensions have been used to describe ADSD speech in the literature (Cannito et al, 1997(Cannito et al, , 2012Zwirner et al, 1993). They also described speech characteristics that extended beyond voice quality; for example, participants noted ''misarticulations,'' choppiness and a halting manner consistent with the reduced intelligibility and voice breaks often associated with ADSD (Cannito et al, 1997).…”

Spectral Amplitude Measures of Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonic Speech

“…ADSD severity ratings were established by consensus of two speech pathologists familiar with the disorder and have been shown to be reliable in previous research. 4,25 This yielded equal sample sizes in the mild-to-moderate and severe-toprofound ranges. In addition, all selected speech samples were required to exhibit the full set of vowel tokens targeted for acoustical analysis.…”

Expert System-Type Approach to Voice Disorders: Scheduling Botulinum Toxin Treatment for Adductor Spasmodic Dysphonia

“…However, by comparing the speaking rate of normal and SD speakers, the authors of [2] found out that speech disfluency (≈ stuttering) is "not a defining feature of SD", although "it does contribute significantly to the overall clinical impression of severity of the disorder. "…”