Normative Data of Cepstral and Spectral Measures in Korean Adults Using Vowel Phonation and Passage Reading Tasks

Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to construct local normative data for cepstral and spectral measures in Korean adults without voice impairments by using vowel phonation and passage reading tasks, and to investigate whether those measures differ according to gender and the measurement positions in a passage. Furthermore, the correlation of the measures derived by different tasks was also explored. Methods: One hundred and forty-four community-dwelling adults (age-matched 72 males and 72 females) without speech or language disorders participated in the study. Participants were asked to produce the Korean vowel /a/ and to read the Korean standard passage 'Ga-eul'. Cepstral and spectral measures were obtained for each vowel and sentence sample in front and rear positions of the passage using the Analysis of Dysphonia in Speech and Voice program. For sentence samples, cepstral measures were compared according to gender and position. Results: Males showed significantly higher CPP, CPPmax, CPPmin, and sCPP in vowel production tasks, while females showed higher CPP F0 and CPP/Avg. In the passage reading task, a significant interaction effect between gender and position was shown for CPP, sCPP, maximum L/H ratio, CPP F0, and sCPP F0. Males showed higher CPPmax and L/H ratio, while females showed higher CPPmin and CPP/Avg. The minimum L/H ratio was higher for the front position, while the sL/H ratio and regression slope were higher for the rear position. Conclusion: The current data could contribute to the diagnosis of voice problems in the Korean population through clinical practice and research, although the differences between tasks should be taken into consideration.