Respiratory and Laryngeal Changes With Vocal Loading in Younger and Older Individuals.

PURPOSE

The objective of the current study was to investigate the effects of age and vocal loading on the respiratory and laryngeal systems.

METHOD

Fourteen younger (M = 20 years) and 13 older (M = 75 years) healthy individuals participated in a 40-min vocal loading challenge in the presence of 70-dB background noise. Respiratory kinematic and laryngeal measurements were obtained before and after the challenge.

RESULTS

Following the loading challenge, participants in both groups reported greater speaking effort. Sound pressure level increased in the older group and decreased in the younger group after loading. Younger adults, but not older adults, used lower lung volume initiations and higher lung volume terminations after loading. Cepstral peak prominence increased with loading in both groups, but this change was of small magnitude and not clinically significant.

CONCLUSIONS

The negative effects of loading were observed in respiratory and laryngeal measures, although the pattern of changes differed across the groups. These data increase our knowledge of underlying respiratory and laryngeal physiological changes following a loading challenge and may reflect some of the physiologic mechanisms underlying vocal fatigue.