Respiratory Dynamics of Vocally Healthy Middle-Aged Men during Phonatory Tasks for Assessment of Vocal Functionality: Normative Data for Clinical Practice

• Grant number: 24/17759-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2024
• End date: November 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Rosiane Kimiko Yamasaki Odagima
• Grantee: Gabriela Porto Silva
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 23/11420-2 - Respiratory, laryngeal and vocal tract articulators dynamics of vocally healthy young to elderly adults during phonation tasks to assess vocal functionality and morphophysiology of vocal techniques, AP.R

Abstract

Introduction: The aging process can lead to natural morphophysiological changes in the respiratory, phonatory and resonant subsystems. Studies show that after the third decade of life, a linear decline of function in the cardiovascular, respiratory, skeletal and muscular systems occurs, in addition to neurological, structural and functional changes. The respiratory subsystem is the basis of vocal production and acts in integrated mode with the phonatory subsystem. Changes in the respiratory dynamic may affect phonation. Although important studies have been conducted about respiratory dynamics of young adults and elderly adults, literature lacks information about this subject in the middle aged, male population. Objectives: 1- To examine respiratory dynamics in middle-aged men 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 men. Method: The present study is a prospective, cross-sectional, and observational research project involving 36 men between the ages of 46 and 59. 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. Analysis of the results: 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 men, which can be used in future research on dysphonic men.