Introduction: Tele-rehabilitation offers the opportunity to receive care at home. The reliability of the voice recorded through tele-mode using mobile phones is questionable. The voice recorded in live versus tele-mode has been compared previously. However, the literature does not provide enough evidence for voice samples captured with smartphones that can be analyzed reliably in clients with voice disorders.
Objectives: To compare the voice samples recorded in smartphone versus recorded live with standardized microphone in lab. To analyze the reliability of voice samples recorded through tele-mode in clients with voice disorders.
Method: A total of 50 participants participated in the study; out of them, 30 had normal voice and 20 had pathological voice. Mean age of the participants was 32.5 yrs. Recordings of the voice samples including sustained phonation and words were done twice on the same subjects. First time with a standardized microphone and the second time with smartphone. A comparison of acoustic and perceptual voice in real-time and recorded samples of voice in normal vs pathological voice was done. Reliability of samples was analyzed to be considered for assessment through tele-mode.
Result: Results revealed that perceptually, there was no significant difference between real-time voice and recorded voice in individuals with normal and pathological voices. In acoustic analysis, there was no significant difference, except for shimmer between real-time voice and recorded voice in individuals with pathological voice for the sample of sustained phonation. The words were not considered as reliable source of voice analysis through tele-mode in the current study.
Conclusion: This was a preliminary study in India to explore the difference in acoustic measures between recorded voices on smartphones and to determine its reliability in voice evaluation. Findings indicate that sustained phonation is considered the best voice sample when we use smartphones as recording devices, fundamental frequency being the most reliable acoustic parameter and it did not change in any of the voice samples in normal and pathological voices.
Key Words: Acoustic measures, smartphones, tele-practice