Profiles and predictors of onset based differences in vocal characteristics of adults with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder(ANSD)

摘要

Purpose:Onset-based differences are understudied in Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder(ANSD)in dimensions such as voice,which is addressed in the study.The study aimed to profile and predict the best metrics of onset-related differences in acoustic vocal characteristics of early and late-onset ANSD patients.Methods:31 participants(15 early and 16 late-onset)aged 15e30 years diagnosed with ANSD were included in the study.The sustained phonation of vowel/i/recorded by the participants using android based smartphones of selected configuration was sent over email to the experimenter.Acoustic parameters(fundamental frequency,harmonic frequencies,jitter,shimmer,harmonic-to-noise ratio,cepstral peak prominence-CPP,and pitch sigma)were analysed using Praat software.Results:Results revealed significantly increased(p<0.05)fundamental frequency along with decreased F2 and F3 of/i/in the early-onset ANSD compared to the late-onset group,which can be explained based on differences in the pathophysiology of the disorder.Although not statistically significant,mean perturbations(jitter and shimmer),harmonic-to-noise ratio,cepstral peak prominence,and pitch sigma were more affected in the early-onset group,reflective of lowered auditory feedback and periodicity in their voice samples.Results of discriminant analysis marked the emergence of F2,F3,and CPP as the most sensitive metrics for onset-based group differences in voice characteristics.Conclusions:The findings from the study highlight the role of acoustical voice evaluation(especially CPP,F2&F3)in verifying the onset of ANSD disorder.The insights from the onset-based differences seen in vocal characteristics can indirectly help audiologists in deciding the management options for ANSD.