Acoustic Voice Analysis Does Not Identify Presence of Penetration/Aspiration as Confirmed by Videofluoroscopic Swallowing Study

Objective: To investigate whether acoustic voice analysis can identify the presence of penetration/aspiration (P/A) as confirmed by videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS). Design: Repeated measures within subjects. Setting: Rehabilitation department in a tertiary teaching hospital. Participants: Patients (N=44) with swallowing disorders referred for VFSS. Interventions: Patients were asked to sustain phonations /a/ for at least 3 seconds before and after swallowing 5mL of liquid barium during a standardized VFSS. The acoustic voice analysis program was used to analyze vocal quality change. Main Outcome Measures: Five acoustic parameters including average fundamental frequency, relative average perturbation, shimmer percentage, noise-to-harmonic ratio, and voice turbulence index were analyzed for each participant before and after swallowing during VFSS. Differences in the pre- and postmeasures were compared between those participants who demonstrated VFSS-confirmed P/A (n=17) and those who did not (n=27). Results: No significant changes were noted in the 5 acoustic parameters in or between P/A and nonpenetration/aspiration groups (P>.05). Conclusions: As used in this study, acoustic voice analysis does not identify the presence of P/A confirmed by VFSS.