Estimated Subglottic Pressure Evaluation, Evolution in 152 Dysphonic Patients

Background:
Estimated subglottic pressure (ESGP) is part of the aerodynamic measurements included in the vocal profile. It is an indication of vocal effort. Speyer reports an improvement of the ESGP score after voice treatment. Nevertheless, few studies used ESGP to evaluate voice efficiency treatment.
Objectives:
The purpose is to examine the ESGP twice, at the first (T1) and the last consultation (T2) . We observe the ESGP values according to voice pathology. We also examine the relationships between ESGP, SPL(Sound pressure level) and DSI (Discorder severity index) .
Method:
The study includes 130 patients (M:31/W:99), which suffer from 4 different pathologies as immobility (N: 54), oedema (N:23), nodules (N:24) and polyp (N:29). Each patient’s file consists of VLS, acoustic, aerodynamic and perceptual measures. The ESGP was collected through the Phonatory Aerodynamic System Model 6600 (KayPentax). Patients produced 3 sequences of / ipipi / at low (IL), conversational (IC) and high (IH) intensity. Patients were grouped according to the ENT’s diagnosis.
We compare our values to those of Zraick et al (2012) which studied ESGP on a healthy group.
Results:
At T2, for the all patients, at minimum and conversational intensity the ESGP scores decrease singificantly, even if those scores were higher than for the healthy group.
We observe a negative correlation between ESGP and SPL at low and conversational intensity. At T1, the higher is the ESGP score, the lower is the SPL score. At T2, the higher is the ESGP score, the higher is the SPL score. At T1, a negative correlation is observed between ESGP and DSI for 2 groups of patients (immobility and polyp) only at minimum intensity. The higher is the ESGP, the lower is SPL. At T2, only for the group immobility, the negative correlation persists.
Conclusion:
This study highlights the importance of considering the ESGP as a parameter of efficiency. High ESGP is mainly connected with patients who suffer from pathology. The patient who suffer from immobility seems to present a specific profile which could help the clinician to better understand their vocal behavior.
Recommendation: This study highlights the pertinence of considering the ESGP as a parameter of vocal treatment efficiency.