[Perceptual and acoustic evaluation of hoarseness]

Voice disturbances require a multidimensional diagnostics. Hoarseness as a common symptom of dysphonia contains the parameters of breathiness and roughness. Perceptual voice assessment is designed to describe voice attributes and serve as a standardised means of communication among clinicians. In Germany a commonly used and researched perceptual scale is the RBH-scale, providing a measure of roughness (R), breathiness (B) and the overall grade (H) of dysphonia as judged by the listener on a scale of 0 to 3 (0: normal, 1: mild, 2: moderate, 3: severe). Acoustic analysis of the voice by means of the Goettingen hoarseness diagram is commonly used as well and enables to quantitatively describe the periodicity (roughness) and the noise content (breathiness) of voices, but not on a scale of 0 to 3. We suggest a possibility to present the result of the Goettingen hoarseness diagram on a scale analogously to the RBH-system to facilitate a better exchange of information about the severity of voice disturbances for colleagues or medical surveyors.