The effect of hearing impairment on the vocal characteristics of older people.
Measures of vocal intensity, frequency and harshness were compared for 19 hearing-impaired and 21 normal-hearing people over 60 years of age. Significantly greater comfortable intensity levels were found in the hearing-impaired group, but the other measures of frequency and harshness were not significantly different. A large proportion of the subjects in both groups reported a history of gastro-oesophageal reflux (GER), a condition associated with vocal fold pathology and hoarseness. Comparison of the GER and non-GER subjects on the measures of vocal function showed that the female GER speakers exhibited lower frequency on the vowel /u/ than the non-GER subjects. Clinicians need to be aware of the effect of highly prevalent disorders such as hearing impairment and GER on the voices of elderly speakers.
Weatherley
C C
CC
Department of Speech Pathology and Audiology, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
Worrall
L E
LE
Hickson
L M
LM
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006309:Hearing; D006310:Hearing Aids; D006319:Hearing Loss, Sensorineural / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010700:Phonetics; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D014833:Voice Quality