Department of Speech Language Pathology, Faculty of Arts, Theology and Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland.
Department of Electrical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.
Logoped Phoniatr Vocol. 2023 Dec;48(4):163-171. doi: 10.1080/14015439.2022.2056243. Epub 2022 Apr 21.
The aim of this study was to investigate how otherwise healthy older adults with self-assessed voice problems relate to their voice and voice changes.
Focus groups were conducted at an activity center to identify how older adults reflect on their own voice and the aging voice in general. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. The analysis was done using thematic content analysis.
The analysis resulted in three main themes: "communicational aspects of the aging voice," "consequences of deteriorating vocal and communicative capacity," and "attitudes, strategies, and ideas". The participants considered voice to be an important communication tool and presented what could be interpreted as awareness regarding their voice. Voice changes were considered a natural part of aging. This attitude was also an important reason why the participants had not sought medical care for their voice problems. The participants discussed ideas concerning extended voice use to maintain a functioning voice when aging. Simultaneously, voice changes due to aging were considered to have a negative effect on communication and social participation.
The voice is important for older adults, and an insufficient voice can affect communication and social participation. Information about aging voice and voice exercises, for example from speech language pathologists, could be of interest among older adults. Further studies on the voice of older adults are needed regarding how they experience their voice and the general aspects of a healthy aging voice.
本研究旨在探讨自我评估有嗓音问题的健康老年个体如何感知自身的嗓音及其变化。
在活动中心进行焦点小组讨论，以确定老年人如何反思自己的嗓音以及一般的衰老嗓音。访谈进行了音频记录并转录。采用主题内容分析法进行分析。
分析产生了三个主要主题：“衰老嗓音的交流方面”、“嗓音和交流能力恶化的后果”和“态度、策略和想法”。参与者认为嗓音是一种重要的交流工具，并表现出对自己嗓音的某种程度的意识。嗓音变化被认为是衰老的自然部分。这种态度也是参与者没有因嗓音问题寻求医疗护理的重要原因。参与者讨论了关于延长嗓音使用以维持衰老时嗓音功能的想法。同时，由于衰老导致的嗓音变化被认为对交流和社会参与有负面影响。
嗓音对老年人很重要，嗓音不足会影响沟通和社会参与。老年人可能对有关衰老嗓音和嗓音锻炼的信息（例如来自言语语言病理学家的信息）感兴趣。需要进一步研究老年人的嗓音，了解他们如何体验自己的嗓音以及健康衰老嗓音的一般方面。
