Comparison of Speaking Fundamental Frequency between Premenopausal Women and Postmenopausal Women with and without Hormone Therapy

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the speaking fundamental frequency (SFF) in pre- and postmenopausal women with and without hormone therapy (HT) and with low and high body mass index (BMI). Patients and Methods: The SFF of premenopausal women with low BMI (n = 22) was compared with the SFF of premenopausal women with high BMI (n = 13), postmenopausal women with HT and low BMI (n = 35), postmenopausal women with HT and high BMI (n = 19), postmenopausal women without HT and with low BMI (n = 28) and postmenopausal women without HT and with high BMI (n = 12) using ANCOVA and post hoc tests. Results: A significantly lower SFF of the voice was only found in postmenopausal women without HT and with a low BMI. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that the menopause lowers the voice with approximately 14 Hz and that HT and adipose tissue (high BMI) might counteract the menopausal drop in SFF.