Resumo

OLIVEIRA, Rafaella Cristina; TEIXEIRA, Letícia Caldas; GAMA, Ana Cristina Côrtes  e  MEDEIROS, Adriane Mesquita de. Auditory-perceptive, acoustic and vocal self-perception analyses in children. J. Soc. Bras. Fonoaudiol. [online]. 2011, vol.23, n.2, pp. 158-163. ISSN 2179-6491.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S2179-64912011000200013.

PURPOSE: To establish the occurrence of dysphonic children and to relate data from auditory-perceptive, acoustic and vocal self-perception analyses of dysphonic and non-dysphonic children. METHODS: Participants were 70 children, 37 female and 33 male, with ages ranging from 6 to 10 years. The sustained emission of the vowel /a/ was recorded, and children replied to the question "What do you think of your voice?".After that, the auditory-perceptive analysis of their voices was carried out, based on the parameters of the GRBASI scale. The acoustic analysis was also conducted, considering the following measures: fundamental frequency, frequency and amplitude perturbation quotient, and harmonic-to-noise ratio. The self-perception analysis of the subjects' voices was based on content analysis. Data were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The occurrence of dysphonic children was 37.14%. Breathiness was the most common vocal quality among dysphonic children, followed by roughness, which was also common. The acoustic measures frequency and amplitude perturbation quotient and harmonic-to-noise ration were higher among dysphonic children. However, these measures were similar between children that had positive self-perception and those with negative self-perception. Negative self-perception was more frequent among dysphonic children. CONCLUSION: The occurrence of dysphonia in the studied group was 37.14%. Dysphonic children present negative self-perception of their voices, voice quality predominantly rough and/or breathy, and altered acoustic measures, when compared to non-dysphonic children.

Palavras-chave : Voice; Voice disorders; Dysphonia/epidemiology; Auditory perception; Child.