Cepstral analysis in patients with a vocal fold motility impairment: advantages of the cepstrum over time-based acoustic analysis

Objectives To determine the usefulness of the smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS) in sustained vowel as objective measure of dysphonia. Study design This is a retrospective cohort study. 49 patients presenting a vocal cord motility impairment between 2012 and 2018 were included. Methods Classical acoustic parameters, including jitter, shimmer and NHR, as well as the CPPS were obtained for each patient with a vocal cord motility impairment confirmed by means of a fiberoptic laryngoscopy. We calculated the S/E ratio of each patient to establish the glottal efficiency. An independent sample t test and a Pearson correlation test were used to compare data. Results Patients presenting a vocal cord motility impairment present abnormal values of the CPPS. Those patients presenting a vocal cord paralysis present lower values of those presenting a vocal cord paresis, with statistically significant difference ( P