The Aerodynamic Comparisons between Pathologic Whispers and Phonation in Patients with Muscle Misuse Dysphonia

This study compared the aerodynamic multiparameters of whispers and phonation in patients with muscle misuse dysphonia(MMD) to evaluate the voice aerodynamic analysis for discrimination between whispers and phonation. Eleven patients with muscle misuse dysphonia were examined. Whispers were shorter with a maximum phonation time(MPT; p.05). The ROC analysis showed that the threshold of 23.83 ppm for PE achieved a good classification for whispers, with the perfect sensitivity(100%) and specificity(100%). Those results indicate PE reliably distinguished between whispers and phonation. The results also suggest that PE may provide a useful tool for studying the laryngeal source.