Acoustic analysis of voice in normal and high pitch phonation: A comparative study

Objectives: Comparison of acoustic parameters of voice between normal and high pitch phonation in normal adults, and comparison between genders. Participants and Methods: A total of 48 normal laryngeal speakers were considered for this study. The acoustic parameters were analyzed using the Multi-Dimensional Voice Program. Descriptive statistics were used for analysis of the acoustic parameters across tasks and genders. Paired-samples t tests were used to compare measures between tasks. Independent-samples t tests were used to compare parameters between genders. Results: Significant differences were found across tasks in the range of fundamental frequency and average fundamental frequency. Females showed a significant difference in the frequency perturbation measures - percent jitter and relative average perturbation, while males demonstrated a significant difference in the noise-to-harmonic ratio. While comparing mean differences between genders, significant differences were observed in fundamental frequency, range of the fundamental frequency, and smoothed pitch perturbation quotient during both phonation tasks. Conclusion: Comparison of acoustic parameters between normal and high pitch phonation would facilitate understanding the effect of high pitch phonation on voice parameters. Subsequently, this would help clinicians to focus on important acoustic parameters while assessing professional voice users who are at risk of developing voice problems.