Perturbation and Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of Adult Male Smokers

Objective Smoking results in a voice change, and the perception by smokers of an abnormal voice may encourage quitting behavior. Moreover, a disordered voice is often the first sign of vocal pathology. Efforts to evaluate voice have focused on classical acoustic analysis; however, nonlinear dynamic analysis has been shown to be a reliable objective method for the evaluation of voice. We compare the discriminatory ability of these two methods when applied to normal and smokersʹ voices. Study Design Prospective study. Methods The study included 73 subjects, 36 nonsmokers and 37 smokers. A segment of sustained vowel production was obtained from each subject. Acoustic dimension and correlation dimension (D2) analyses were applied to the data. Results were compared with a Mann-Whitney rank sum test, logistic regression, and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis. Results