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"Hot potato voice" in peritonsillitis: a misnomer
Mahmood F Bhutta1, George A Worley, Meredydd L Harries
1Department of Ear Nose and Throat, The Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, UK.
Journal of Voice : Official Journal of the Voice Foundation
|December 20, 2005
Summary
The "hot potato voice" in peritonsillitis is a misnomer. Vocal tract resonance changes differ from those caused by a physical obstruction, indicating peritonsillar musculature dyskinesis.
Area of Science:
- Otolaryngology
- Speech Science
- Acoustic Phonetics
Background:
- The
- hot potato voice
- is a common descriptor for speech in peritonsillitis.
- However, no studies have acoustically analyzed the vocal tract in peritonsillitis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and compare the acoustic characteristics of the vocal tract in peritonsillitis versus a physical obstruction (hot potato).
- To determine if the term
- hot potato voice
- accurately describes the speech changes in peritonsillitis.
Main Methods:
- Acoustic analysis of formant frequencies (F1, F2) during the articulation of vowels /i:/, /a:/, and /u:/.
- Comparison of vowel articulation in six subjects with peritonsillitis (before and after treatment) and six subjects articulating vowels with and without a physical object in their mouth.
Main Results:
- Significant variations in F1 for /i:/ and F2 for /a:/ were observed in peritonsillitis, attributed to peritonsillar muscle dyskinesis.
- Articulation with a physical obstruction showed variations in F1 and F2 for /i:/ due to tongue movement interference.
- Acoustic changes in peritonsillitis differ from those caused by a physical obstruction.
Conclusions:
- The acoustic changes in peritonsillitis are distinct from those caused by a physical obstruction.
- The term
- hot potato voice
- is a misnomer for the speech characteristics of peritonsillitis.