Acoustic measurements of geriatric voice

Abstract

Background: Aging larynx can cause changes in the voice. Knowledge about the normal changes in voice parameters is important in differentiating it from pathological voices. This study is a preliminary investigation on the age related changes in the parameters of voice in geriatric normal subjects, which has been scarcely reported in the Indian literature. Materials and Methods: Our study focused on the changing acoustic parameters of voice due to aging in normal geriatric subjects. The acoustic parameters of males and females with normal voice between the age groups of 60 to 80 were studied. 20 subjects in each category (male and female) were included in the study. All the subjects were taken after clearance from ENT to rule out any vocal pathology. The parameters taken were fundamental frequency, formants (f1, f2), jitter and shimmer. Results and Discussion: Our study shows that there are not any significant changes in the acoustic parameters either in males or in females across the age of 60 years to 80 years. However when compared to adult norms (18-25 yrs) the acoustic values are showing a difference both in males as well as in females in fundamental frequency. Comparison was also done between males and females between the age group of 60 to 80 years. Males differed from females significantly for the parameters of fundamental frequency and formant frequencies (f1 and f2 ) only and not for the parameters of jitter and shimmer.