Neck circumference and acoustic parameters of the voice

Publication date: Available online 25 March 2017
Source:Revista de Logopedia, Foniatría y Audiología
Author(s): Lourdes Bernadete Rocha de Souza, Gabriela da Silva Rocha, Deysianne Meira da Silva Lima
IntroductionObesity is recognized as a worldwide epidemic. As such, it has consequences for the quality of life of a person and is related to physiological changes that modify body functioning, including vocal production and its normal parameters.ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between neck circumference and the acoustic parameters of the voice in women with morbid obesity.MethodAn observational, cross-sectional comparative study was conducted on a sample of 23 morbidly obese women and 19 women without obesity. Voice recording was performed using the acoustic analysis software ANAGRAF^® on a laptop with attached external microphone. To extract the values of the fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, and harmonic noise ratio, participants were requested to sustain the emission of the vowel [a], with the usual intensity and pitch. To extract the maximum phonation time, the participants were asked to prolong the vowels [a], [i] and [u] in the usual intensity and pitch. The neck circumference was measured using a paper measuring tape placed perpendicular to the long axis of the neck just below the larynx prominence. The Mann–Whitney test was performed on the data in order to detect differences between groups in relation to the study variables.ResultsThe variables that had a significant difference between the groups were, the maximum phonation time and the shimmer acoustic parameter. The fundamental frequency and jitter showed different values in the obese group, although this relationship was not statistically significant.ConclusionThe increase in neck circumference can produce changes in the acoustic parameters of the voice of morbidly obese women.



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