Respiratory Dynamics of Vocally Healthy Middle-Aged Women During Phonatory Tasks to Assess Vocal Functionality: Normative Data for Clinical Practice

• Grant number: 23/18142-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: June 01, 2024
• End date: December 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Rosiane Kimiko Yamasaki Odagima
• Grantee: Erica Kiyoko Yamauchi Silva
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: The human voice undergoes natural changes over the course of a lifetime. During the young adult stage, all vocal subsystems are typically fully developed and functioning well. Research has extensively explored the vocal production of young adults. However, there is a dearth of information on the vocal functionality of middle-aged individuals, particularly regarding respiratory dynamics during tasks that assess vocal functionality, such as those in the dynamic vocal analysis (DVA). OBJECTIVES: 1- To examine respiratory dynamics in middle-aged women with no vocal impairments while performing dynamic vocal analysis tasks, utilizing respiratory inductance plethysmography. 2- To establish normative data for clinical settings regarding respiratory dynamics in middle-aged women. METHOD: The present study is a prospective, cross-sectional, and observational research project involving 36 women between the ages of 46 and 60. The aim of this study is to conduct a Dynamic Vocal Analysis (DVA) assessment using connected speech and sustained vowel tasks. Which will involve a connected speech task, wherein participants will count from 1 to 20 at three different intensities: habitual, weak, and strong emission. For the sustained vowel task, participants will emit five repetitions of the vowel "é" at maximum phonation times, at habitual frequency, high and low pitches, and weak and strong intensities. The measurement of respiratory dynamics will be conducted through inductance plethysmography. This method requires three respiratory belts, positioned respectively at the armpit (expansibility of the upper region of the rib cage), floating ribs (expansibility of the diaphragm region), and abdomen (expansion of the abdominal region). The parameters for plethysmography would include the measurement of the amplitude of inspiratory and expiratory movement during the DVA tasks of connected speech and sustained vowel in mV. To obtain the maximum phonation times (MPT), we will conduct DVA tasks involving the sustained pronunciation of a vowel. For reproducibility analysis, the DVA tasks will be performed twice, consecutively. RESULTS ANALYSIS METHOD: A comparative and reproducibility analysis will be conducted. The outcomes of this analysis will enable the generation of normative data on the respiratory dynamics of middle-aged women, which can be used in future research on dysphonic women.