OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the number of syllables collected and performance end effects had a significant effect on phonation threshold pressure (PTP) estimates. METHODS: Ten adult females with normal voices produced five- and seven-syllable trains of /pi/ at low, modal, and high pitches. The results were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance to determine whether a difference existed in PTP when a five-syllable train was collected versus when a seven-syllable train was collected and whether the typically discarded first and last syllables within a train differed from the middle syllables. RESULTS: The results indicated that there was no significant difference in estimated PTP values when calculated from a five-syllable versus a seven-syllable train or between the first, middle, and last syllables within a train. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these findings, it appears that a five-syllable train provides adequate information from which to estimate PTP values. Furthermore, these findings also suggest that within the five-syllable train, any three adjacent syllables could be used to estimate PTP. These findings are significant in developing a clinically standardized, effective, and efficient method for collecting PTP.
OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the number of syllables collected and performance end effects had a significant effect on phonation threshold pressure (PTP) estimates. METHODS: Ten adult females with normal voices produced five- and seven-syllable trains of /pi/ at low, modal, and high pitches. The results were analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance to determine whether a difference existed in PTP when a five-syllable train was collected versus when a seven-syllable train was collected and whether the typically discarded first and last syllables within a train differed from the middle syllables. RESULTS: The results indicated that there was no significant difference in estimated PTP values when calculated from a five-syllable versus a seven-syllable train or between the first, middle, and last syllables within a train. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these findings, it appears that a five-syllable train provides adequate information from which to estimate PTP values. Furthermore, these findings also suggest that within the five-syllable train, any three adjacent syllables could be used to estimate PTP. These findings are significant in developing a clinically standardized, effective, and efficient method for collecting PTP.