In this study, Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 were conducted to develop the a simplified Voice Range Profile(VRP) measurement for patients with voice disorders. In Experiment 1, it is important to examine the validity and reliability of the VRP measure...
In this study, Experiment 1 and Experiment 2 were conducted to develop the a simplified Voice Range Profile(VRP) measurement for patients with voice disorders. In Experiment 1, it is important to examine the validity and reliability of the VRP measurement by looking at the difference of VRP measures according to
vowel types, the number of measurements(1, 3, 5), and the measurement protocols(glissando, semitone scale) for reliable elicitation and recording. In Experiment 2, we will develop a
simplified Voice Range Profile (VRP) measurement for patients with voice disorders based on the results of Experiment 1 for the usefulness of clinical applications.
For Experiment 1,
Forty
young adults(20 males and 20 females with the mean age of 22.9 ranging from 19 to 28) participated for VRP measures. For Experiment 2, eight participants(4 males, 4 females with the mean age of 24.6) who were 20% randomly selected from the participants of Experiment 1 for testing a newly simplified VRP protocol. All experiments were performed using the Voice Range Profile program of CSL(Computerized Speech Lab, Model 4150B, Kay-Pentax), which measures the minimum and maximum frequency, frequency range, minimum and maximum intensity and intensity range.
Experiment 1 showed that vowel /a/ displayed the largest voice range when compared among the different vowel types to elicit the maximal VRP performance measures.
In terms of the number of measurements, it was the largest when it was performed five times. In addition, among different procedure to elicit and recording the VRP, semitone scale demonstrated significant wide range than glissando protocol(p<.05).
In Experiment 2, a simplified VRP measurement was developed and compared with those of semitone and glissando 5 times. The results revealed that significant larger frequency range in a new simplified VRP protocol(p<.05). On the other hand, the intensity range was the largest in semitone(p<.001), but there was no significant difference between semitone and a simplified VRP protocol(p>.05).
In conclusion, VRP measures can change depend on vowel type, the number of measurement, and measurement method. A novel simplified measurement of VRP was proven an effective way of improving VRP measurement to save the time and to enhance the accuracy.
Key Word: Simplified Voice Range Profile,
Vowel types, Number of Measurements, Measurement Method, Validity