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Objective voice changes in nondysphonic Parkinson's disease patients
Haldun Oguz1, Tugba Tunc, Mustafa Asim Safak
1Department of Otolaryngology, Saglik Bakanligi Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. drhoguz@gmail.com
The Journal of Otolaryngology
|October 20, 2006
Summary
Parkinson's disease patients without voice symptoms show distinct acoustic differences, including jitter and loudness, compared to healthy individuals. These findings highlight subtle vocal changes detectable through objective analysis.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Speech-Language Pathology
- Acoustic Analysis
Background:
- Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder affecting motor control.
- Voice symptoms are common in PD, but early, subclinical changes are not well understood.
- Objective acoustic analysis offers a quantitative method to assess vocal characteristics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate objective acoustic analysis results in Parkinson's disease patients without apparent voice symptoms.
- To compare these acoustic findings with age- and sex-matched healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Prospective study conducted at a tertiary reference hospital.
- Objective acoustic analysis of voice samples from 14 female PD patients with no voice symptoms.
- Comparison with 22 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects.
Main Results:
- No significant differences were found in mean fundamental frequency and shimmer.
- Statistically significant differences (p < .05) were observed in jitter, loudness, and harmonics-to-noise ratio.
- These acoustic parameters differentiate PD patients from controls even without subjective voice complaints.
Conclusions:
- Parkinson's disease patients without voice symptoms exhibit objectively different acoustic voice profiles compared to controls.
- Early, subclinical voice alterations in PD can be detected via acoustic analysis.
- Clinicians should consider these objective acoustic findings in the early assessment of Parkinson's disease.
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