OSCE Revision Flashcards
Revise terms and meanings
What are the key perceptual components of voice?
Pitch, loudness, and quality.
What is jitter and shimmer, and why are they clinically important?
Jitter: Variations in pitch; Shimmer: Variations in loudness. Both are used to detect vocal pathologies.
List and describe three common voice disorders.
Vocal nodules: Bilateral growths caused by vocal overuse.
Vocal polyps: Unilateral soft lesions, often fluid-filled.
Spasmodic dysphonia: Neurological disorder causing strained voice due to spasms.
What is the GRBAS scale used for?
It assesses voice quality based on Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain.
What does GRBAS stand for?
Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain.
What are common acoustic and aerodynamic measures in voice analysis?
Acoustic: Jitter, shimmer, HNR (Harmonics-to-Noise Ratio).
Aerodynamic: Airflow, subglottal pressure.
What are the types of stuttering?
Developmental: Begins in childhood.
Acquired: Associated with neurological or psychosocial events.
What is acquired stuttering
Associated with neurological or psychosocial events.
Describe developmental stuttering
Occurring in childhood
What are the risk factors for persistent stuttering?
Male gender, family history, longer duration of stuttering (6–12 months), late onset (closer to language development).
What is the difference between developmental and acquired stuttering?
Developmental: starting in early childhood and persisting throughout the lifespan
Acquired: Due to a neurological or psychological event.
What is persistent stuttering?
If child is still stuttering at seven years of age, it is less likely that the stuttering will completely go away. This is called persistent stuttering.
What is psychogenic stuttering?
associated with sudden onset and some significant psychosocial trigger
What are the three phases of swallowing?
Oral: Voluntary movement of food to the back of the mouth.
Pharyngeal: Involuntary phase where food passes through the throat.
Esophageal: Involuntary peristalsis moves food to the stomach.
What is penetration?
Penetration: Food enters the airway but stays above the vocal folds.
What is aspiration?
Aspiration: Food enters below the vocal folds and into the trachea.
Define “the airway” in relation to swallowing
The airway is defined by any part of the larynx, and should be protected by the epiglottis
How can aspiration/penetration be diagnosed?
It can only be seen during an instrumental assessment. We cannot confirm it completely during a bedside clinical assessment
Clinical indicators of potential penetration include;
Coughing - receptors receiving information from the surfaces of the larynx, send messages to the brain that there is material going into the airway. The brain reacts and protect by coughing and attempting to eject foreign material
Throat clear - similar to coughing
Wet/gurly voice - material sitting on the vocal folds. People may not be aware of the material sitting in the airway, therefore a throat-clear or cough is not made to eject material. This may tell the speech pathologist that there is a neurological deficit and messages are not being relayed properly
Possible indicators of aspiration might include;
Changes in respiratory status - increased respiratory rate, increased work of breathing, decreased oxygen saturation levels (measure via pulse oximeter).
History of frequent chest infections/aspiration pneumonia.
Which cranial nerves are involved in swallowing?
CN V (Trigeminal): Chewing muscles.
CN VII (Facial): Lip strength, taste,
CN IX (Glossopharyngeal): Moves food to the pharynx.
CN X (Vagus): Controls muscles in the pharynx and larynx.
CN XII (hypoglossal nerve) muscles of the tongue
What are the key components of the auditory system?
Outer ear, middle ear, inner ear, and central auditory pathways
Describe conductive vs. sensorineural hearing loss.
Conductive: Problem in the outer or middle ear.
Sensorineural: Damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve.
What is pure-tone audiometry?
A test that measures hearing thresholds at different frequencies.
What is the difference between aided and unaided AAC?
Aided: Requires external devices (e.g., communication boards).
Unaided: Relies on body language (e.g., gestures, sign language).
What are some examples of low tech AAC
Chatboards, Chat books, gesture, key word sign, communication cards, visuals
What are some examples of high tech AAC
speech generating devices, eye gaze devices,
What is core vocabulary in AAC?
High-frequency, functional words used in daily communication.
Describe two types of high-tech AAC systems.
Speech-generating devices (SGDs): Produce spoken language.
Text-to-speech software: Converts written text into spoken words.
Paraphasia
production of an unintended sound within a word, or of a whole word or phrase
Perseverations
when someone “gets stuck” on a topic or an idea.
Broca’s Aphasia
when they have trouble speaking fluently but their comprehension can be relatively preserved. Patients have difficulty producing grammatical sentences and their speech is limited mainly to short utterances of less than four words
Wernicke’s Aphasia
when someone is able to speak well and use long sentences, but what they say may not make sense. They may not know that what they’re saying is wrong, so may get frustrated when people don’t understand them
Anomic
a mild, fluent type of aphasia where individuals have word retrieval failures and cannot express the words they want to say
Posterior
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