Validation of the Acoustic Voice Quality Index 03.01FIN (AVQI) in Finnish speaking population

Authors

• Eliina Kankare Department of Phoniatrics, Tampere University Hospital
• Leena Rantala Speech and Voice Research Laboratory, Unit of Logopedics, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University
• Tero Ikävalko Speech and Voice Research Laboratory, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University
• Ben Barsties v. Latoszek Speech-Language Pathology, SRH University of Applied Health Sciences, Düsseldorf, Germany and Department of Phoniatrics and Pediatric Audiology, University Hospital Münster, Westphalian Wilhelm University, Münster, Germany
• Anne-Maria Laukkanen Speech and Voice Research Laboratory, Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.23997/pk.101516

Keywords:

acoustic analysis, dysphonia, Finnish language, perceptual evaluation, voice disorder

Abstract

The Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI) is an objective tool based on six acoustic parameters.
It uses sustained vowel and continuous speech in the analyses and therefore it must be validated
in different languages. In this study, the newest version of AVQI (03.01) with an extended
continuous speech sample and improved internal consistency was validated to Finnish-speaking
population. The study included 197 native Finnish-speaking voluntary participants, out of
which 111 were patients from a phoniatric clinic and 86 were healthy voice users. A sustained
vowel and a reading sample were recorded. Mean number of the syllables comparable to the
3 second sustained vowel was calculated from the reading samples. Sixteen voice specialists
evaluated the overall voice quality of the voice samples with a four-point scale. Statistic analyses
were performed to test the diagnostic accuracy between healthy and disordered voices in
Finnish-speaking population. The number of syllables, comparable to 3 seconds of sustained
vowel, was 31. The correlation between the AVQI scores and the overall voice quality was
strong (Spearman’s rho 0.77, p= 0.01). The AVQI score 1.83 was the best to distinguish healthy
and dysphonic voices. The study confirmed the AVQI03.01FIN version to be a good tool in
voice disorder diagnostics in Finnish speaking population.