Vocal Function and Upper Airway Thermoregulation in Five Different Environmental Conditions

Abstract

Purpose Phonation threshold pressure and perceived phonatory effort were hypothesized to increase and upper airway temperature decrease following exposure to cold and/or dry air. Greater changes were expected with mouth versus nose breathing. Method Using a within-participant repeated measures design, 15 consented participants (7 men, 8 women) completed 20-minute duration trials to allow for adequate thermal equilibration for both nose and mouth breathing in five different environments: three temperatures (°C) matched for relative humidity (%RH): cold (15°C/40% RH), thermally neutral (25°C/40% RH), and hot (35°C/40% RH); and two temperatures with variable relative humidity to match vapor pressure for the neutral environment (25°C/40% RH): cold (15°C/74% RH) and hot (35°C; 23% RH). Following each equilibration trial, measures were taken in this order: upper airway temperature (transnasal thermistor probe), phonation threshold pressure, and perceived phonatory effort. Results Data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance and no significant differences were established. Conclusions The study hypotheses were not supported. Findings suggest that the upper airway is tightly regulated for temperature when challenged by a realistic range of temperature/relative humidity environments. This is the first study of its kind to include measurement of upper airway temperature in conjunction with measures of vocal function.

Reducing the Negative Vocal Effects of Superficial Laryngeal Dehydration With Humidification

“…It has been suggested that environmental temperature may influence vocal function. 11 Twenty minutes of mouth breathing in hot, dry air does not increase PTP in vocally healthy participants. However, the effect of temperature on PTP during longer durations of mouth breathing has yet to be investigated and should be considered in the future.…”

“…1 However, adverse voice changes following 15–20 minutes of mouth breathing in low humidity have not been observed consistently. 11,12 Individuals may regularly spend longer periods of time breathing in dry environments. 6 It is possible that more consistent voice changes will be observed following longer challenge durations.…”

Características perilaríngeas y semiológicas de mujeres con odinofonía

“…A su vez, la relevancia de estos resultados complementa la terapéutica del paciente con odinofonía. Gracias a esto, en algunos casos, se puede buscar el incremento en la ingesta de agua para mantener la temperatura del tracto vocal durante la fonación (Sandage, Connor, & Pascoe, 2014) o, en otros, se pueden especificar el abordaje manual para mantener al nervio laríngeo superior con el menor grado de compresión posible (Mathieson et al, 2009). La intensidad del dolor expresada por las participantes es en promedio, moderado (5 a 6).…”

Parámetros objetivos de la voz de trabajadores escolares colombianos con voces saludables

“…The relation between environmental temperature and voice use intensity is still unclear. Nevertheless, previous studies on the influence of temperature in voice production have highlighted the association between temperature, and muscle function and laryngeal viscosity (27,28). Since regulation of vocal intensity is partly controlled by the tension of the vocal folds, it seems likely that a higher temperature reduces muscle tension of vocal folds and, thereby, increases the airflow during phonation and therefore the vocal intensity.…”