SMARTPHONE-BASED EVALUATION OF VOICE QUALITY: PRELIMINARY RESULTS ON THE CLINICAL USE OF THE VOICESCREEN APPLICATION IN TURKISH-SPEAKING PARTICIPANTS

Aim: The objective of this study was to present the preliminary results of the efficacy of the VoiceScreen smartphone application in differentiating between normophonic and dysphonic individuals through the measurement of the Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI) among Turkish-speaking participants. Materials and Methods: A total of 30 participants were included in the study, comprising 15 individuals with dysphonia and 15 normophonic participants. Voice recordings were collected utilizing the VoiceScreen application in a clinical setting. The participants read standard text and produced sustained vowel phonation as part of vocal tasks. The application automatically calculated AVQI scores. In addition, participants were assessed using the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) and the GRBAS scale. Results: Results indicate a significant difference in VoiceScreen and VHI-10 scores between dysphonic and normophonic groups (p<0.05). VoiceScreen scores exhibited significant positive correlations with GRBAS (r=0.694, p=0.004) and VHI-10 (r=0.630, p=0.012) within the dysphonic group. Conclusions: This study's findings indicate that the VoiceScreen app can distinguish between normophonic and dysphonic individuals in Turkish. The results highlight its potential as an accessible and user-friendly tool for initial voice screening in Turkish-speaking clinical populations. Keywords: VoiceScreen App, AVQI, Smartphone App, Acoustic Analysis, Dysphonia