Acoustic Breathiness Index for the Japanese-Speaking Population: Validation Study and Exploration of Affecting Factors

J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2019 Aug 15;62(8):2617-2631. doi: 10.1044/2019_JSLHR-S-19-0077. Epub 2019 Jul 11.

Abstract

Objectives The purposes of this study were to validate the Acoustic Breathiness Index (ABI) for the Japanese-speaking population and to determine whether it is independent of factors such as sex, age, and perceptual ratings of roughness. Method First, the concurrent validity of the ABI for perceptual breathiness was evaluated on the concatenations of continuous speech and sustained vowels from 288 patients with varying degrees of dysphonia. The diagnostic accuracy was examined on 343 samples with 55 additional normophonic speakers. Second, the validity related to responsiveness-to-change was estimated on 222 samples obtained before and after interventions for 111 voice-disordered patients. Third, the relationships between the ABI and other variables (i.e., perceptual hoarseness/breathiness/roughness, sex, and age) were explored using bivariate and multivariate analyses for the 288 patients. Results First, the concurrent validity and the responsiveness-to-change validity were confirmed by strong correlation coefficients of .890 and .878, respectively. Second, the receiver operating characteristic analysis showed the area under the curve to be 0.939, indicating excellent accuracy. The ABI of 3.44 exhibited a sensitivity of 76.3% and a specificity of 94.1%. Third, although bivariate analyses revealed a weak relationship between ABI and roughness and an ABI difference by age, multiple regression analyses showed a strong relation between only ABI and breathiness, without a meaningful contribution from roughness, sex, and age factors. Conclusion The study confirmed that the ABI is an accurate and specific tool to estimate breathiness levels in the Japanese-speaking population and neither roughness, sex, nor age significantly affects the ABI.

Publication types

  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Dysphonia / diagnosis*
  • Female
  • Hoarseness / diagnosis*
  • Humans
  • Japan
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • ROC Curve
  • Regression Analysis
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Respiratory Sounds*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Severity of Illness Index*
  • Speech Acoustics
  • Speech Production Measurement / methods*