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| Director: Tanya L. Eadie, Ph.D. |
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| Auditory-perceptual
Evaluation of Voice |
 Auditory-perceptual evaluation is an important clinical tool used in voice diagnosis, assessment, and treatment. However, the rated quality a listener derives from a signal may be affected systematically by several factors related to: 1) the listener (e.g., individual bias, experience, training); 2) the task (e.g., scale used, dimensions rated); 3) the interaction between listener and task factors. This research investigates the effect of both listener and task factors on listeners’ evaluation of individuals with voice disorders. For example, what is the effect of training on accuracy and reliability listener judgments? What types of voice qualities and dimensions are important when evaluating individuals with voice disorders? What types of scales are valid for evaluating voice disorders? How do auditory-perceptual ratings relate to other measures of voice such as acoustic characteristics, or those self-rated by the individual? Results have implications for accurate diagnosis and measurement of treatment outcomes for individuals with voice disorders.
We wish to acknowledge past and present support for this research by the University of Washington Royalty Research Fund, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation (New Investigator Grant), and the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (Special Interest Division 3). |
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| Communicative Participation in Head and Neck Cancer |
 One of the greatest difficulties experienced by individuals with head and neck cancer (HNCa) relates to verbal communication. Difficulties in communication may result from alterations of structures of the speech/voice mechanism associated with primary treatment (e.g., surgical removal of tumors on tongue, larynx, palate), as well as secondary effects (e.g., radiation effects on dental health; facial disfigurement) that may interfere with a person’s ability to communicate in a number of everyday life situations. Traditional methods of assessing communication difficulties in HNCa include use of speech intelligibility or voice quality measures performed by the clinician, as well as patient-reported measures (e.g., “quality of life” scales). Although these measures are valuable for planning and documenting the effectiveness of treatment, no tool is dedicated to measuring how communication difficulties are experienced by individuals in everyday life situations, or what is called “communicative participation” (Eadie et al., 2006). The overarching goal of this series of studies is to validate an item bank comprised of carefully calibrated items that define and quantify the construct of communicative participation in HNCa survivors. Realization of these aims will help establish the validity of a meaningful HNCa outcome measure.
We gratefully acknowledge support for this research by the National Institutes of Health (National Cancer Institute): 1R03CA132525-01A1. |
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