title: Vocal parameters and voice-related quality of life in adult women with and without ovarian function.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify the perceptual and acoustic parameters of voice in adult women with and without ovarian function and its impact on quality of life related to voice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional and analytical study with 106 women divided into, two groups: G1, with ovarian function (n=43) and G2, without physiological ovarian function (n=63). The women were instructed to sustain the vowel "a" and the sounds of /s/ and /z/ in habitual pitch and loudness. They were also asked to classify their voices and answer the voice-related quality of life (V-RQOL) questionnaire. The perceptual analysis of the vocal samples was performed by three speech-language pathologists using the GRBASI (G: grade; R: roughness; B: breathness; A: asthenia; S: strain; I: instability) scale. The acoustic analysis was carried out with the software VoxMetria 2.7h (CTS Informatica). The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the perceptual analysis, both groups showed a mild deviation for the parameters roughness, strain, and instability, but only G2 showed a mild impact for the overall degree of dysphonia. The mean of fundamental frequency was significantly lower for the G2, with a difference of 17.41Hz between the two groups. There was no impact on V-RQOL in any of the V-RQOL domains for this group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  With the menopause, there is a change in women's voices, impacting on some voice parameters. However, there is no direct impact on their quality of life related to voice.
authors: Post-Graduation Program for Maternal-Child Health, Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luís, Brazil. pablorrf@uol.com.br
authors: Pablo Rodrigo Rocha
authors: PR
authors: Ferraz
authors: Simão Veras
authors: SV
authors: Bertoldo
authors: Luanne Gabrielle Morais
authors: LG
authors: Costa
authors: Emmeliny Cristini Nogueira
authors: EC
authors: Serra
authors: Eduardo Magalhães
authors: EM
authors: Silva
authors: Luciane Maria Oliveira
authors: LM
authors: Brito
authors: Maria Bethânia da Costa
authors: MB
authors: Chein
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D010053:Ovary / Q000502:physiology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012649:Self Concept; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception; D013066:Speech-Language Pathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult