Vocal Parameters and Voice-Related Quality of Life in Adult Women With and Without Ovarian Function

Is Menstrual Dysphonia Associated With Greater Disability and Lower Quality of Life?

“…In the 18 subjects with mild dysphonia, videoendoscopy did not show any sign of laryngeal pathology, whereas in the 34 professional voice users with moderate degree of dysphonia, we found only minor anatomopathologic abnormalities of the vocal folds during laryngoscopic evaluation performed at the first days of the menstrual cycle; in detail, edema and diffuse hyperemia of the true vocal folds were found in five women; only bilateral edema was present in 19 subjects, and diffuse hyperemia, but without edema, was found in the remaining 10 patients; when laryngoscopy was performed after menstruation (days [15][16][17], no morphologic abnormality was found in most subjects, although mild hyperemia of the vocal folds was found in four women only. Stroboscopic parameters were all within normal ranges in both subgroups.…”

“…9 However, although some studies reported a high incidence (over 60%) of dysphonia among female voice users, 10 others 11-13 did not confirm that female professional voice users had greater vocal load, psychological distress, or physical complaints. The most recent literature concerning women undergoing menopausal hormonal fluctuations 14,15 tends to confirm that sexual hormones determine significant voice changes (the so-called ''menopausal drop'' of the dominant frequency of the voice) but does not report a significant impact of such changes on their vocal and psychological well-being. Thus, to date, there has been no clear evidence concerning the presence of clinically significant laryngeal morphofunctional modifications during the menstrual phase or their impact on disability and quality of life among female professional voice users.…”

Autoavaliação vocal de mulheres na menopausa

“…G2 showed significantly higher levels of general grade of dysphonia, roughness, strain and instability, lower fundamental frequency and /s/ MPT, but, there was no difference in quality of life scores and most of G2 subjects classified their voices as pleasant. The authors concluded the absence of ovarian function cause some voice changes, however, it did not affect the voice-related quality of life of those women 34 . The found results are diverse from the present study using voice professionally or previously had voice treatment were excluded from the sample, and the participants do not have high voice load.…”

Vocal Symptoms and Acoustic Findings in Menopausal Women in Comparison to Pre-menopause Women with Body Mass Index as a Confounding Variable

“…Well known symptoms to these functional and organic changes are the vasomotor and urogenital symptoms accompanied by sleep disturbances, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular diseases and last but not least phonatory disturbances. 1 2 3 4 5 Abitbol and Abitbol 6 in his study on 100 menopausal women on no hormonal therapy, has reported dysphonia in 17% of the cases namely reduction in vocal range and loss of high frequencies. In a survey by Boulet and Oddens 7 using a questionnaire filled by 48 professional voice users, more than two thirds reported vocal changes around the age of 50 years, namely huskiness, loss of the high notes, reduced flexibility and stability.…”