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Revista Portuguesa de Pneumologia

Print version ISSN 0873-2159

Rev Port Pneumol vol.12 no.4 Lisboa July 2006

 

Padrões acústicos da voz em indivíduos com a doença vibroacústica

Voice acoustic patterns of patients diagnosed with vibroacoustic disease

 

Ana Mendes1

Mariana Alves-Pereira2

Nuno A A Castelo Branco3

 

 

Resumo

Enquadramento: A exposição crónica ao ruído de baixa frequência (RBF) (¡Ü 500 Hz, incluindo infra-sons) pode conduzir ao desenvolvimento da doença vibroacústica (VAD – vibroacoustic disease), uma patologia sistémica caracterizada pela proliferação anormal das matrizes extracelulares. O aparelho respiratório é alvo do RBF, como foi observado em doentes com VAD através de biópsia e confirmado com modelos animais expostos a RBF, sendo um dos aspectos mais evidentes a fibrose intersticial da traqueia. A análise acústica vocal pode detectar pequenas variações na massa, tensão, actividade muscular e neuronal das pregas vocais através de parâmetros como frequência fundamental (F0), jitter, shimmer e índice harmónico-ruído (H/R). Dado que o sistema respiratório é a fonte de energia do processo fonatório, e sabendo das alterações morfológicas na traqueia dos doentes com VAD, pode perguntar-se quais os efeitos destas alterações na voz. O objectivo deste estudo foi determinar se os parâmetros acústicos dos doentes com VAD diferem dos dados normativos. Métodos: Nove indivíduos diagnosticados com a VAD (5 homens e 4 mulheres) foram gravados durante a produção de tarefas fonatórias e foram efectuadas as análises acústicas vocais.

Resultados: Os doentes com a VAD apresentaram valores elevados de F0, shimmer e H/R e valores reduzidos de jitter e extensão máxima de frequência vocal.

Conclusões: Os doentes com a VAD, quando comparados com dados normativos, apresentaram diferentes parâmetros acústicos vocais, espectrais e de perturbação, podendo indicar alterações morfológicas no sistema fonatório.

Palavras-chave: Ruído de baixa frequência, infra-sons, shimmer, jitter, acústica da voz, cordas vocais.

 

 

Abstract

Background: Long-term low frequency noise exposure (LFN) (¡Ü 500 Hz, including infrasound) may lead to the development of vibroacoustic disease (VAD), a systemic pathology characterized by the abnormal growth of extra-cellular matrices. The respiratory system is a target for LFN. Fibrosis of the respiratory tract epithelia was observed in VAD patients through biopsy, and confirmed in animal models exposed to LFN. Voice acoustic analysis can detect vocal fold variations of mass, tension, muscular and neural activity. Frequency perturbation (jitter), amplitude perturbation (shimmer) and harmonictonoise ratio (HNR) are used in the evaluation of the vocal function, and can be indicators of the presence and degree of severity of vocal pathology. Since the respiratory system is the energy source of the phonation process, this raises questions about the effects of VAD on voice production. The purpose of this study was to determine if voice acoustic parameters of VAD patients are different from normative data.

Methods: Nine individuals (5 males and 4 females) diagnosed with VAD were recorded performing spoken and sung tasks. The spoken tasks included sustaining vowels and fricatives. The sung tasks consisted of maximum phonational frequency range (MPFR). Voice acoustic parameters analysed were: fundamental frequency (F0), jitter, shimmer, HNR and temporal measures.

Results: Compared with normative data, both males and females diagnosed with VAD exhibited increased F0, shimmer and HNR. Jitter, MPFR and one temporal measure were reduced.

Conclusions: VAD individuals presented voice acoustic parameter differences in spectral, temporal and perturbation measures, which may be indicative of small morphological changes in the phonatory system.

Key-words: Low frequency noise, infrasound, shimmer, jitter, voice acoustics, vocal folds.

 

Texto completo disponível apenas em PDF.

Full text only available in PDF format.

 

 

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1 Escola Superior de Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal

2 ERISA, Universidade Lusófona, Lisboa

3 Centro da Performance Humana, Lisboa.

vibroacoustic.disease@gmail.com

 

Recebido para publicação/received for publication: 06.02.28

Aceite para publicação/accepted for publication: 06.04.26