INTRODUCTION:
Voice aging is characterized by changes caused by body aging, interfering with the vocal intonations, revealing states of soul and body. To investigate the vocal quality of postmenopausal women using objective parameters is important to foster research in this area, as well as assisting in improving the quality of life of this group.
OBJECTIVE:
To determine the acoustic parameters of the voice of women in post-menopause.
METHOD:
Quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted with 23 women in the postmenopausal period, using the Praat software 5.2.0. The parameters considered were fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, harmonic noise and spectrographic analysis. The sample consisted of women enrolled in the Open University of Third Age in Salvador-BA. Data analysis was descriptive, using percentages, and t test to check the relationship between increasing age and vocal worsening.
RESULTS:
In this sample, 13% had values below the fundamental frequency of 150Hz and 34% between 150 and 217Hz, demonstrating voice deepening. There was a statistically significant worsening of this related to increasing age parameter (p=0.02471). There was difference between the jitter and shimmer parameters according to increasing age, but without statistical significance. These acoustic parameters are related to changes in the vibratory pattern of the vocal folds (vibration cycle). A harmonic noise ratio was above 15.000 in all women, but also had lower values with increasing age, with no statistical significance.
CONCLUSION:
The observed changes in acoustic parameters show that postmenopausal women had changes in vocal patterns, which can lead to decreased quality of life. Therefore, it requires a closer look at the need of speech therapy in this group.
Voice; Acoustic Analysis; Vocal Quality; Post-menopause
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