Fundamental frequency, phonation maximum time and vocal complaints in morbidly obese women

Abstract

BackgroundObese people have abnormal deposition of fat in the vocal tract that can interfere with the acoustic voice.AimTo relate the fundamental frequency, the maximum phonation time and voice complaints from a group of morbidly obese women.MethodsObservational, cross-sectional and descriptive study that included 44 morbidly obese women, mean age of 42.45 (±10.31) years old, observational group and 30 women without obesity, control group, with 33.79 (±4.51)years old. The voice recording was done in a quiet environment, on a laptop using the program ANAGRAF acoustic analysis of speech sounds. To extract the values ​​of fundamental frequency the subjects were asked to produce vowel [a] at usual intensity for a period in average of three seconds. After the voice recording, participants were prompted to produce sustained vowel [ a] , [ i] and [ u] at usual intensity and height, using a stopwatch to measure the time that each participant could hold each vowel.ResultsThe majority, 31(70.5%), had vocal complaints, with a higher percentage for complaints of vocal fatigue 20(64.51%) and voice failures 19(61.29%) followed by dryness of the throat in 15 (48.38%) and effort to speak 13(41.93%). There was no statistically significant difference regarding the mean fundamental frequency of the voice in both groups, but there was significance between the two groups regarding maximum phonation.ConclusionIncreased adipose tissue in the vocal tract interfered in the vocal parameters.

Neck Circumference and Vocal Parameters in Women Before and After Bariatric Surgery

“…There was a statistically significant difference in MPT values for the vowels [a], [i], and [u] before and after bariatric surgery (Table 1), which corroborates with the findings of other authors [7][8][9]15] who found a reduction in this parameter in individuals with obesity. This result can be explained by the presence of fat in the neck in obese individuals, which predisposes the increase in type II muscle fibers in the dilator muscles of the upper airways, causing lower respiratory muscle strength [17] and difficulty in mobilizing the airflow to the same degree as in non-obese individuals.…”

“…Acoustic analysis revealed higher fundamental frequency (f0) and reduced maximum phonation time (MPT). Other studies of morbidly obese women have found reduced maximum phonation time [8,9] and low fundamental frequency values by female standards [8].…”

“…Several studies have explained the relationship between body weight, voice production, and the parameters of MPT and f0 [1,8,14,15,9], but research evaluating these parameters before and after bariatric surgery is rare in literature.…”

Effect of Rapid Maxillary Expansion on Voice

“…11 On the other hand, there has been a debate on the relation between body weight and formants with a major dispute whether heavy individuals compared with normal individuals have lower speaking frequencies. 12,13 Despite the debate on the correlation between speaker's weight, and formant frequencies and their interspace, there is a consensus that formants vary with the shape, configuration, and dimensions of the vocal tract, part of which is the orofacial and craniofacial morphology. 14,15 The effect of different vocal tract configurations on formants has intrigued the authors of the present article to investigate the effect of RME on formant frequencies and their dispersion.…”

Efectividad del calentamiento vocal fisiológico para cantantes

“…Además, la aplicación de medidas objetivas para la fonación y la resonancia, entre ellas la electroglotografía y el análisis acústico, demuestran la objetividad de los resultados alcanzados (12)(13)(14)(18)(19)(20)(21). Se evidenció que los cambios positivos en la producción vocal, durante la emisión cantada y hablada, son producto del equilibrio de tres subprocesos (respiración, fonación y resonancia), logrados a partir de la aplicación de ejercicios basados en la tendencia de rehabilitación vocal fisiológica, comprobando así los beneficios reportados en la literatura (22)(23)(24). Esta corriente también logra en el cantante un afianzamiento de rutinas y técnicas incorporadas a su desempeño cotidiano de calentamiento vocal (13,16).…”