[Computer-assisted phonetography as a diagnostic aid in functional dysphonia]

A total of 160 voice-trained and untrained subjects with functional dysphonia were given a "clinical rating" according to their clinical findings. This was a certain value on a scale that recorded the degree of functional voice disorder ranging from a marked hypofunction to an extreme hyperfunction. The phonetograms of these patients were approximated by ellipses, whereby the definition and quantitative recording of several phonetogram parameters were rendered possible. By means of a linear combination of phonetogram parameters, a "calculated assessment" was obtained for each patient that was expected to tally with the "clinical rating". This paper demonstrates that a graduation of the dysphonic clinical picture with regard to the presence of hypofunctional or hyperfunctional components is possible via computerised phonetogram evaluation. In this case, the "calculated assessments" for both male and female singers and non-singers must be computed using different linear combinations. The method can be introduced as a supplementary diagnostic procedure in the diagnosis of functional dysphonia.