Meurer Eliséa Maria, Wender Maria Celeste Osório, von Eye Corleta Helena, Capp Edison
Department of Physiology, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
J Voice. 2004 Sep;18(3):369-74. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2003.02.001.
Human verbal expression requires coordinated interaction among cortical, neuromuscular, and peripheral events. It is affected by hormonal factors and shows different characteristics in reproductive age and postmenopausal women. The present study compared phono-articulatory characteristics between women in reproductive age postmenopausal. Acoustic variations in fundamental frequency, voice sustenance, formants, vocal intensity, and verbal diadochokinesis were measured. Forty-five women in reproductive age with regular menstrual cycles and taking no hormonal contraceptives and 45 postmenopausal women receiving no hormonal replacement therapy for at least 3 years were interviewed, and their verbal productions were tape-recorded. Acoustic analyses were performed using the Kay Elemetrics Motor Speech Profile (Lincoln Park, NJ). Student t test was employed to compare data between the two groups when they presented normal distribution and Mann-Whitney test when they were asymmetrical. Results showed a greater variability in vocal sustenance, less variation in formants, and verbal diadochokinesis in postmenopausal women. There were no significant variations in fundamental frequency and vocal intensity. These results emphasize the need of a multidisciplinary integrated research, when assessing phono-articulatory processes after the menopause. A better understanding in this field will make it possible to elaborate strategies to offer a better life quality for postmenopausal women.
人类言语表达需要皮质、神经肌肉和外周事件之间的协调相互作用。它受激素因素影响,在育龄妇女和绝经后妇女中表现出不同特征。本研究比较了育龄妇女和绝经后妇女的语音发音特征。测量了基频、声音持续时间、共振峰、声音强度和言语快速交替运动的声学变化。对45名月经周期规律且未服用激素避孕药的育龄妇女和45名至少3年未接受激素替代疗法的绝经后妇女进行了访谈,并对她们的言语进行了录音。使用凯伊电子公司的言语运动分析软件(新泽西州林肯公园)进行声学分析。当两组数据呈正态分布时,采用学生t检验比较两组数据;当数据不对称时,采用曼-惠特尼检验。结果显示,绝经后妇女的声音持续时间变异性更大,共振峰和言语快速交替运动的变异性较小。基频和声音强度没有显著差异。这些结果强调,在评估绝经后的语音发音过程时,需要进行多学科综合研究。对这一领域的更好理解将有助于制定策略,为绝经后妇女提供更高的生活质量。