H‐Index: A new measure of glottal efficiency for the pathologic voice

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Taking advantage of the extended dynamic range of digital analysis of voice the H‐Index represents the first proposed acoustical measure of glottal efficiency. “Hi” /hai/ was chosen to evaluate glottal efficiency since it provides an excellent test of glottal transformation from voiceless to voiced sound energy, the upper vocal tract having a neutral effect. Fifteen individuals with normal voices and 30 patients with hoarse voices were asked to say “hi.” The power ratio of /h/ to /a/ was calculated from peak power of each measure from the power envelope. Voice quality had a highly significant effect on measured values (P<.001). A high degree of correlation (P<.001) was found with the AC/DC ratio, a standard aerodynamic measure of glottal efficiency. The results indicate that the H‐Index represents an excellent measure of glottal efficiency, obviating the need of invasive techniques or expensive, highly specialized equipment.

This publication has 10 references indexed in Scilit: