Vocal therapy effects with progression of intensity and duration in the elderly voice

• Grant number: 16/26050-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2017
• End date: December 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Alcione Ghedini Brasolotto
• Grantee: Polyana Ferreira Salles
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru (FOB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The life expectancy of the Brazilian population increases gradually over the years and this growth must be accompanied by health maintenance and life quality. Aging is a stage of development in which individuals undergo physiological, molecular, and cellular changes. These changes also affect the larynx, the respiratory system and, consequently, the vocal production, impairing the communication of the elderly. Presbyphonia is a physiological sequence of events that are directly related to the aging process of the vocal folds. This project is a clinical, blind, longitudinal study, which will be performed at the Clínica de Fonoaudiologia da Faculdade de Odontologia de Bauru - Universidade de São Paulo, whose objective is to analyze the immediate effect of vocal therapy with progression of intensity and duration in the elderly voice. Fifteen individuals with sixty years or more, who present vocal fold bowing and/or prominence of vocal processes during breathing, and/or spindle-shaped glottic chink in the phonation will participate, verifying if there is a modification between the moments before and immediately after vocal therapy in the elderly. It is intended to confirm the following hypothesis: parameters to be analyzed of the glottic configuration, self-assessment, vocal quality and maximum phonation time would be different when comparing the moments of the intervention and the immediate intervention. (AU)