Acoustic analysis of cough in head and neck cancer patients with swallowing disorders

Assessment of radio(chemo)therapy-related dysphagia in head and neck cancer patients based on cough-related acoustic features

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Interventional

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN16540497

Enrollment

Registered

2023-06-23

Start date

2021-01-04

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2026-07-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Dysphagia and aspiration risk Signs and Symptoms

Interventions

Firstly, the study will focus on healthy subjects to identify relevant acoustic features of cough, throat clearing, and voice quality (reference values). Secondly, the study will focus on head and nec

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 100 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Healthy volunteers 2. Head and neck cancer patients

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Exclusion criteria for healthy volunteers: 1. Respiratory diseases 2. Dysphonia Exclusion criteria for patients: 1. Respiratory disease

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Identification of a valid set of reference acoustic features in healthy subjects measured using temporal and spectral analyses at baseline. The temporal analysis includes signal duration, amplitude, sample entropy (turbulence noise) and kurtosis (burst). Acoustic cough-related features are recorded using skin contact and acoustic microphones, and analyzed with software developed for the project. The spectral analysis includes relative signal energies in the bands (0 Hz – 400 Hz), (400 Hz – 800 Hz), (800 Hz – 1600 Hz), (1600 Hz – 3200 Hz), the interval between 3200Hz and half the sampling frequency (22050 kHz) as well as the weighted frequency.	—

Measure

Time frame

Identification of a valid set of reference acoustic features in healthy subjects measured using temporal and spectral analyses at baseline. The temporal analysis includes signal duration, amplitude, sample entropy (turbulence noise) and kurtosis (burst). Acoustic cough-related features are recorded using skin contact and acoustic microphones, and analyzed with software developed for the project. The spectral analysis includes relative signal energies in the bands (0 Hz – 400 Hz), (400 Hz – 800 Hz), (800 Hz – 1600 Hz), (1600 Hz – 3200 Hz), the interval between 3200Hz and half the sampling frequency (22050 kHz) as well as the weighted frequency.

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Secondary

Measure	Time frame
1. ACCOUGH-P/A 1.1. Identification of ACCOUGH in HNC patients measured using temporal and spectral analyses at a minimum 3 months following radio(chemo)therapy 1.2. Investigation of the correlation between penetration/aspiration and ACCOUGH to determine a set of valid ACCOUGH features as biomarkers of penetration/aspiration in HNC-patients (ACCOUGH-P/A) measured using the temporal and spectral analyses as well as the FEES examination at minimum 3 months following radio(chemo)therapy. 2. Swallowing features Swallowing features measured using the Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS), The Yale Pharyngeal Residue Severity Rating Scale (YPRS) and the number of swallows at minimum 3 months following radio(chemo)therapy. 3. Voice features Pre- and post-swallow voice quality measured using acoustic features to investigate whether a change in voice quality occurs with penetration/aspiration at minimum 3 months following radio(chemotherapy). Fundamental frequency (F0), harmonics-to-noise ratio, jitter, shimmer and intensity (dB) will be examined before and after each swallow trial to report changes in vocal fold vibration with penetration/aspiration. 4. Aerodynamic features Aerodynamic cough features measured using the peak expiratory flow rate (l/s) and the total expired volume (l) at baseline for healthy subjects and at minimum 3 months following radio(chemo)therapy for HNC-patients. The aerodynamic cough features will be correlated to the acoustic cough features.	—

Measure

Time frame

1. ACCOUGH-P/A 1.1. Identification of ACCOUGH in HNC patients measured using temporal and spectral analyses at a minimum 3 months following radio(chemo)therapy 1.2. Investigation of the correlation between penetration/aspiration and ACCOUGH to determine a set of valid ACCOUGH features as biomarkers of penetration/aspiration in HNC-patients (ACCOUGH-P/A) measured using the temporal and spectral analyses as well as the FEES examination at minimum 3 months following radio(chemo)therapy. 2. Swallowing features Swallowing features measured using the Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS), The Yale Pharyngeal Residue Severity Rating Scale (YPRS) and the number of swallows at minimum 3 months following radio(chemo)therapy. 3. Voice features Pre- and post-swallow voice quality measured using acoustic features to investigate whether a change in voice quality occurs with penetration/aspiration at minimum 3 months following radio(chemotherapy). Fundamental frequency (F0), harmonics-to-noise ratio, jitter, shimmer and intensity (dB) will be examined before and after each swallow trial to report changes in vocal fold vibration with penetration/aspiration. 4. Aerodynamic features Aerodynamic cough features measured using the peak expiratory flow rate (l/s) and the total expired volume (l) at baseline for healthy subjects and at minimum 3 months following radio(chemo)therapy for HNC-patients. The aerodynamic cough features will be correlated to the acoustic cough features.

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Countries

Belgium

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Jul 23, 2026