Effects of a vocally fatiguing task and systemic hydration on men's voices.
Voice disorders, specifically vocal fatigue, are more commonly reported by women than by men. Previously, 4 women with normal untrained voices read loudly for 2 hours in an attempt to fatigue the voice. Vocal function deteriorated, as indicated by increases in phonation threshold pressure (PTP) and self-perceived phonatory effort. The increase in PTP was delayed or attenuated to some degree in 3 of the women when they drank ample amounts of water before the experiment. The current study examined the same vocal-loading task and water-drinking condition in 4 vocally normal men. PTP increased after the loud-reading task. Although 2 of the men appeared to benefit from increased systemic hydration (PTP increased more when they were underhydrated than well-hydrated), the other 2 men's data changed in the opposite direction. Phonatory effort correlated well with PTP; this varied across subject and pitch. Laryngeal endoscopy revealed an anterior glottal gap in two men after the loud-reading task. Amplitude of vocal fold vibration was judged to be reduced after the loud-reading task in three subjects when underhydrated and one subject when well hydrated. The high between-subject variability prohibits a conclusion that drinking water is beneficial to vocal function in men, but all subjects studied to date demonstrated detrimental vocal effects of prolonged loud talking.
Solomon
Nancy Pearl
NP
Department of Communication Disorders, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA. Nancy.Solomon@na.amedd.army.mil
Glaze
Leslie E
LE
Arnold
Robert R
RR
van Mersbergen
Miriam
M
D000328:Adult; D004327:Drinking Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012008:Recurrence; D012737:Sex Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D014833:Voice Quality; D014867:Water / Q000008:administration & dosage*
D014867:Water