Analysis of Phonation in Individuals with Systemic Autoimmune Myopathies: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study aims to analyze speech-language manifestations related to voice in individuals with systemic autoimmune myopathies.

Observational, cross-sectional, and descriptive study.

The self-assessment questionnaires Screening Index of Voice Disorder (SIVD) and Voice Handcap Index (VHI-10) were used to quantify vocal symptoms and voice-related quality of life; vocal recording was performed using the open-access software Praat version 6.4.12 for Windows; perceptual-auditory analysis was conducted using the CAPE-V visual analog scale and, subsequently, acoustic measures were extracted, including jitter, shimmer, fundamental frequency (F0), harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), cepstral measures (CPPS), Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI), Acoustic Breathiness Index (ABI), and Dysphonia Severity Index (DSI).

Six female participants, mostly Black, were included, with dermatomyositis (DM) being the most frequent diagnosis; income up to two minimum wages and education ranging from high school to higher education. Five participants reached the cutoff point for the SIVD vocal symptom scale (≥ 5), and three participants scored above the VHI-10 cutoff (>7.5). In the perceptual-auditory analysis, altered values consistent with grade 1 (mild) were found in all participants, and in the acoustic analysis, alterations were found in shimmer, F0, HNR, CPPS, ABI, AVQI, and DSI values.

Among the participants, vocal complaints were prevalent, with impact on voice-related quality of life and mild vocal quality alterations, reflected in acoustic analysis values.