Auditory perception of lay judges about gender identification of women with Reinke's edema.

PURPOSE

To investigate the auditory perception of lay judges of the voice gender identification of women with Reinke's edema and to associate it with its severity and fundamental frequency (F0).

METHODS

This is an observational, analytical and cross-sectional study. A total of 46 lay judges analyzed 48 samples (counting numbers 1 to 10) of 24 women with Reinke's edema - the Reinke's Edema Group (REG) and 24 individuals, men and women, with other types of voice disorders - Control Group (CG). The judges had to classify the voices as being of a man or a woman. Additionally, they needed to indicate their certainty or not about their choice. Results were associated with the severity of the Reinke's edema (Type 1, 2 or 3) and the F0 (extracted from the vowel /Ɛ/).

RESULTS

Misidentification of gender was higher in the REG and certainty about the choice was higher in the CG. Type 1 cases caused fewer misidentifications compared to type 2 and 3. The women's voices that were identified as male voices had a lower F0 (141Hz) when compared to voices that were correctly identified (149Hz).

CONCLUSION

Women with Reinke's edema are frequently identified as men. Lower F0 was related with more misidentification and less certainty when assessing the speaker's gender.