Objective:
TO determine the effects of sinus surgery on the production and perception of speech.
Design:
Vocal recordings were performed before, 1 week after, and at least 1 month after sinus surgery. Acoustic spectra were analyzed for nasal consonants/m/and/n/, nasalized vowels, and nonnasalized vowels. Results for nasal consonants were compared with similar recordings obtained from a group of normal subjects with no history of sinus disease. Perceptual analysis of nasalized vowels was conducted by trained phoneticians.
Setting:
Private practice at an academic medical center.
Subjects:
Five patients who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery and 3 normal subjects.
Main Outcome Measures:
The spectral characteristics and perceptual attributes of nasal sounds.
Results:
Significant differences in spectral properties were observed for the consonants and nasalized vowels recorded before and after surgery (P<.001). Perceptual experiments for nasalized vowels demonstrated a postoperative decrease in nasality for the high vowel/i/, as in "beep," and an increase in nasality for the non-high vowel/æ/, as in "bad." These perceived changes correlated well with acoustic measures of nasal peak amplitudes and the lowest resonance peak amplitude of the vocal tract.
Conclusions:
Sinus surgery results in measurable effects on the produced acoustic signal and the perceived nasality of a patient's speech. The identified acoustic correlates may be useful for preoperative counseling of patients concerning expected changes in speech quality following surgery.Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 1997;123:845-852