Acoustic Metrics of the Strain Dimension of Voice Quality: A Scoping Review.

Background: Strained voice quality-commonly referred to as vocal strain-is a hallmark of functional voice disorders such as muscle tension dysphonia and is often associated with vocal fatigue and laryngeal hyperfunction. Although listeners describe it as excessive vocal effort, strained voice quality frequently overlaps perceptually with breathiness and roughness, complicating reliable assessment. Despite its clinical relevance, no standardized acoustic definition of strained voice quality has been established.

Supporting Teacher Wellness: Administrator Insights on Protecting Teacher Vocal Health.

Studies show that significantly more teachers experience voice complaints than individuals in other professions. In order to better understand voice complaints, the researchers interviewed 30 administrators (elementary, middle, and high schools) from five school districts. Researchers analyzed the principals' responses through a series of coding, resulting in four emerging themes: (1) the impacts of teacher voice complaints, (2) administrators' responses to teacher voice complaints, (3) a lack of policy and infrastructure around teacher vocal health, and (4) voice enhancement systems as a type of policy.

Exploring Agreement in Voice Acoustic Parameters: A Repeated Measures Case Study Across Varied Recording Instruments, Speech Samples, and Daily Timeframes.

Aims: The aim was to assess the agreement between microphone-derived and neck accelerometer-derived voice acoustic parameters and their associations with recording moments and speech types.

Methods: Using simultaneous recordings, a 7-week study on a single individual was conducted to reduce intersubject variability. Agreement was assessed using Bland-Altman plots, and associations were examined with generalized estimating equations.

Mapping 74 years in acoustic analysis of voice disorders: A bibliometric review and future research directions.

Purpose: This paper conducts a bibliometric analysis to identify and examine the strengths, gaps, and trends in research on acoustic voice assessment for voice disorders.

Methods: A bibliometric analysis was performed on journal articles about voice disorders and acoustic voice assessment in English, Spanish, and Portuguese using seven indexed databases. The analyzed bibliometric parameters included publication year, authors, institutions, countries, journals, subject areas, and keywords.

Voice fatigue subtyping through individual modeling of vocal demand reponses.

Recognizing individual variability is essential for developing targeted, personalized medical interventions. Vocal fatigue is a prevalent symptom and complaint among occupational voice users, but its identification has yielded mixed results. Vocal fatigue is a complex issue with heterogeneous biophysiological responses to vocal demands among individuals.

Between Necessity and Feasibility: A Qualitative Study on How Clinicians Navigate Bedside Voice Assessment.

Objective: This study aims to provide critical insights into how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) approach bedside voice assessment in medical settings, highlighting assessment strategies, practical barriers, and the feasibility of integrating objective tools into routine care.

Methods: Twenty-five SLPs with experience in voice, swallowing, or upper airway disorders participated in semi-structured interviews conducted via Zoom. A hybrid inductive-deductive thematic analysis was applied to examine clinicians' perceptions of bedside voice assessment.

Why do teachers with voice disorders keep teaching? Insights from applications of social capital motives.

Introduction: This study investigated why teachers with voice disorders continue teaching by surveying their motives described in social capital theory.

Methods: Teachers were asked to rate their motives for continued teaching even with voice disorders using online surveys. The five key motives (social capital framework) were: Motive #1 (selfishness), Motive #2 (internal validation), Motive #3 (external validation), Motive #4 (transcendence or altruism), and Motive #5 (belonging).

Prevalence and associated factors of voice symptoms among Mexican prospective teachers: A cross-sectional study.

Aims: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and associated factors of voice symptoms among Mexican prospective teachers.

Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the fall of 2023. Data was collected from all four years of the teacher education program offered by participating institutions.

Changes in voice quality after a Pure Tone Stimulation (PTS) Program.

Background: Auditory feedback allows individuals to monitor their vocal characteristics and adjust to maintain optimal voice quality. One type of auditory stimulation for conversational voice training/therapy is pure tone stimulation. This technique presents binaural auditory stimuli consisting of pure tones separated by half-step intervals to modify the fundamental frequency of the speaking voice and expand the vocal range.

Screening Voice Disorders: Acoustic Voice Quality Index, Cepstral Peak Prominence, and Machine Learning.

Introduction: The Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI) and Smoothed Cepstral Peak Prominence (CPPs) have been reported to effectively support the assessment of voice quality in persons seeking voice care across many languages. This study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of these two measures in detecting voice disorders in American English speakers, comparing their performance to machine learning (ML) models.

Methods: This retrospective study included a cohort of 187 participants: 138 patients with clinically diagnosed voice disorders and 49 vocally healthy individuals.

Measuring Talker Age Estimates Through Crowdsourced Listeners' Ratings: A Pilot Study for Voice Research.

Purpose: Most auditory-perceptual voice research utilizes the judgments of trained listeners rather than everyday listeners with no previous training in speech pathology. Online crowdsourcing of behavioral data from untrained participants is rapidly increasing in popularity but has yet to be a common procedure for auditory-perceptual studies of the voice. The objective of this pilot study was to assess the functionality of this model for judgments of voice by using an online experiment platform to replicate a lab-based, voice-specific age estimation study.

Voice Meets Swallowing: A Scoping Review of Therapeutic Connections.

Purpose: This scoping review aimed to explore the use of volitional voice tasks in assessing swallowing-related outcomes and to evaluate their therapeutic impact on swallowing disorders, including their effects on swallowing biomechanics.

Method: This scoping review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. A literature search was performed across multiple databases (PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus), and additional records were identified through manual searches.

Sensitivity of Acoustic Voice Quality Measures in Simulated Reverberation Conditions.

Room reverberation can affect oral/aural communication and is especially critical in computer analysis of voice. High levels of reverberation can distort voice recordings, impacting the accuracy of quantifying voice production quality and vocal health evaluations. This study quantifies the impact of additive simulated reverberation on otherwise clean voice recordings as reflected in voice metrics commonly used for voice quality evaluation.

Techniques, Models, and Variables of Interest in Studies of Intrinsic Laryngeal Muscle Fiber Types: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Introduction: Laryngeal muscle physiology is integral to many speech, voice, swallowing, and respiratory functions. A key determinant of a muscle's contractile properties, including its fatigue profile and capacity for force production, is the myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isoform that predominates in the muscle. This study surveys literature on the MyHC compositions of mammalian intrinsic laryngeal skeletal muscle to illustrate trends and gaps in laryngeal muscle fiber typing techniques, models, and concepts.

Vocal Effort in Clinical Settings of North and South American Countries: Characterization From Argentinian, Chilean, Colombian, and the United States Clinician's Reports.

Background: In voice clinics, vocal effort is a prevalent complaint, with around 25% of clinicians citing it as the primary issue.

Aim: This study had two objectives. First, it sought to establish the prevalence of vocal effort, both as the primary and the only symptom, among patients receiving treatment from clinicians specializing in voice disorders in various countries across South and North America.

Behind the Headset: Predictive Accuracy of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures for Voice Symptoms in Call Centers.

Objective: This study examines factors predicting self-reported voice symptoms in call center workers.

Methods: Multivariate analysis and predictive modeling assess personal, work-related, acoustic, and behavioral factors. Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) and Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves are employed.

Persuasion Through Focus Groups: Helping Teachers Maintain Healthy Voices.

This study was designed to determine whether participation in a single, 1-hour focus group would spur a change in health-related behavior. All the respondents were teachers who had participated in a focus group designed to learn about teachers' understanding that voice is a working tool. In the discussions, health-related behaviors were discussed as ways to deal with possible vocal strain or injury.

Within-talker and within-session stability of acoustic characteristics of conversational and clear speaking stylesa).

In speech production research, talkers often perform a speech task several times per recording session with different speaking styles or in different environments. For example, Lombard speech studies typically have talkers speak in several different noise conditions. However, it is unknown to what degree simple repetition of a speech task affects speech acoustic characteristics or whether repetition effects might offset or exaggerate effects of speaking style or environment.

Immediate Effects of Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises on Acoustic, Auditory-Perceptual, and Self-Perceptual Measures of Voice Production.

Introduction: This study examined the immediate acoustic, auditory-perceptual, and self-perceptual effects of two semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTs): straw phonation and straw phonation into a cup of water, delivered in a remote setting.

Method: Thirty-six participants (19 females and 17 males) completed a baseline battery of acoustic recordings, followed by one of two SOVTs, and an identical post-task battery. The procedure repeated itself to include the other SOVT.

Raising the volume on teacher vocal wellness: Perspectives from Practicing School Administrators.

Teacher voice health is an important but overlooked issue with consequences for educators, students, and schools. This qualitative study examined administrators' perspectives of teachers' vocal complaints and relevant policies. Focus groups made up of 18 administrators yielded key insights: 1) Reliance on voice amplification, 2) Administrators' attitudes and responses 3) Perceived impacts on learning, and 4) Proposed interventions.

Screening of Voice Pathologies: Identifying the Predictive Value of Voice Acoustic Parameters for Common Voice Pathologies.

Background: Voice acoustic analysis is important for objectively assessing voice production and diagnosing voice disorders.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the sensitivity of various voice acoustic parameters in differentiating common voice pathology types.

Methods: Data from the publicly available Perceptual Voice Qualities Database were analyzed; the database includes recordings of participants with and without voice disorders.