Predicting Airflow from Measures Sensitive to Mid-cord Glottal Gap During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

12-1-2023

Journal

The Annals of otology, rhinology, and laryngology

Volume

132

Issue

12

DOI

10.1177/00034894231170937

Keywords

aerodynamics; glottal gap; glottal incompetence; presbylarynges; vocal fold paresis; voice

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To determine if trans-laryngeal airflow, important in assessing vocal function in paresis/paralysis and presbylarynges patients with mid-cord glottal gaps, could be predicted by other measures sensitive to mid-cord glottal gap size but with smaller risks of spreading COVID-19, and if any patient factors need consideration. METHODS: Four populations were: unilateral vocal fold paresis/paralysis (UVFP, 148), aging and UVFP (UVFP plus aging, 22), bilateral vocal fold paresis/paralysis without airway obstruction (BVFP, 49), and presbylarynges (66). Five measures were selected from the initial clinic visit: mean airflow from repeated /pi/ syllables, longer of 2 /s/ and 2 /z/ productions, higher of 2 cepstral peak prominence smoothed for vowel /a/ (CPPSa), and Glottal Function Index (GFI). S/Z ratios were computed. Stepwise regression models used 3 measures and 5 patient factors (age, sex, etiology, diagnosis, and potentially impaired power source for voicing) to predict airflow. RESULTS: Log-transformations were required to normalize distributions of airflow and S/Z ratio. The final model revealed age, sex, impaired power source, log-transformed S/Z ratio, and GFI predicted log-transformed airflow ( = .275, [5,278] = 21.1;  < .001). CONCLUSIONS: The amount of variance explained by the model was not high, suggesting adding other predictive variables to the model might increase the variance explained.

Department

Surgery

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