Relationship Between Dysphonia and Auditory Processing

Introduction: Patients with dysphonia frequently experience challenges in perceiving vocal aspects such as variations in frequency, intensity, intonation, and emphasis, which can prolong rehabilitation time. Gaining a deeper understanding of these auditory difficulties and enhancing listening skills may significantly benefit the therapeutic process. Objective: To characterize auditory processing skills in patients with dysphonia and relate them to voice assessment data. Methods: This study received approval from the Research Ethics Committee (Protocol no. 129/14), and all participants provided written informed consent. This retrospective exploratory study analyzed the medical records of 31 patients with dysphonia, aged 10 to 63 years, of both sexes, who underwent otorhinolaryngological and speech-language-hearing voice assessment, audiometry, and central auditory processing examination. Findings: Approximately half of the sample had changes in at least one of the auditory processing skills, mostly in the frequency pattern test, and 9 (56%) of them had changes in three or more skills. The study revealed several associations between test failures and specific vocal characteristics. Failures in the Frequency Pattern Test were linked to changes in loudness, intonation, overall severity of dysphonia, roughness, and strain. Similarly, failures in the Speech-in-Noise Test were associated with overall severity of dysphonia, roughness, and breathiness. The Staggered Spondaic Word Test showed correlations between failure and issues with intonation, overall severity of dysphonia, roughness, and strain. Lastly, failures in the Gaps-in-Noise Test were connected specifically to roughness. Discussion and Conclusion: When the failures were analyzed separately, the change in the frequency pattern test predominated. Even though all patients had normal hearing thresholds, difficulties were found in the auditory skills tested, some of them related to vocal aspects – which reinforces the importance of this assessment in voice clinical practice and the need for addressing affected skills in speech therapy.