The Speech Efficiency Score (SES): A time-domain measure of speech fluency.

PURPOSE: This study is a preliminary attempt to evaluate a new speech fluency measure, the Speech Efficiency Score (SES), in comparison with subjective stuttering severity rating scales and stuttered syllable counts (%SS). METHODS: 277 listeners (92 naïve, 39 speech-language pathology (SLP) students, 124 practicing SLPs, and 22 SLPs who specialize in stuttering) evaluated short recordings of speech on an 11-point scale. Recordings were obtained from 56 adults, of whom 20 were people who stutter, 16 were people who stutter who were using fluency-shaping techniques, and 20 were speakers who do not stutter. In addition, %SS and the SES measure were obtained for each recording. RESULTS: The four listener groups rated stuttering severity similarly, with no statistically significant between-group differences. Listeners' responses on the stuttering severity rating scales and the SES yielded significant differences between all three speaker groups. The %SS measure yielded a significant difference only between the stuttering group and the other two groups but not between the fluency-shaping and the control groups. A very strong positive correlation was found between the SES and the subjective stuttering-severity rating scales (r = 0.92). The correlation between %SS and the perceptual evaluation, as well as the correlation between %SS and the SES, were lower, though they still reached significance. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that speech efficiency scores, which are based on a time-domain analysis, closely match subjective stuttering severity ratings and could ultimately provide a more objective way to measure speech fluency.

Parents' Evaluations of Their Children's Dysphonia: The Mamas and the Papas.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of a Hebrew translation of the Pediatric Voice Handicap Index (pVHI). It also examined differences between mothers and fathers in evaluating their child's dysphonia. STUDY DESIGN: Observational design. METHODS: The pVHI was first translated and adapted to Hebrew. The translated version was, then, administered to a group of 141 parents of children aged younger than 14 years. Fifty-eight parents had a dysphonic child, and 83 had a nondysphonic child. Based on the parents' responses to the pVHI, statistical analyses were performed, evaluating validity and reliability, as well as group differences. Following, a subset of the participants, in which only cases where the responses of both parents were available, was examined for evaluating differences between the responses of mothers (n = 46) and fathers (n = 46). RESULTS: Statistical analyses revealed high reliability of the Hebrew version of the pVHI (Cronbach alpha = .97). Parents of the dysphonic children rated their children significantly higher than parents of the nondysphonic group (P < 0.001). Mothers of the dysphonic children rated their children significantly higher than the fathers, on all subscales of the questionnaire (≥0.001 P < 0.047). In contrast, no significant differences were found between mothers and fathers of the nondysphonic children (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The Hebrew version of the pVHI is a reliable tool for quantifying parents' perception of their child's voice handicap. Mothers of dysphonic children evaluate their children's voice handicap more severely than fathers, whereas both parents of nondysphonic children perform this evaluation similarly.