Comparison of post menopausal voice changes across professional and non-professional users of the voice

Abstract

Menopause effects a permanent change in certain body functions, one of them being voice. Moreover, if the voice is used continuously as a part of one’s occupation, this may further impact postmenopausal voice changes. The present study investigated the impact of menopause and professional voice use, and their interaction effect, on the voice. 92 women were classified into reproductive (52) and postmenopausal (40). Each group was divided into Level II (teachers) and Level IV (clerks) of Koufman and Isaacson’s (1991) classification. Acoustic parameters were analyzed using the VisiPitch III software. Aerodynamic parameters were manually calculated. The VHI (Voice Handicap Index) was also included to improve the face validity of the study. Results suggest that F_o, SF_o and MPT reduce post menopause while NHR and VTI increase. Some changes are accelerated in teachers as compared to clerks while some are decelerated. VHI scores of teachers are significantly greater than clerks, though not significantly different across menopause. Thus the presence or absence of voice use in one’s profession differentially affects postmenopausal changes. The study has implications in improving the condition of teachers in India, developing norms for menopausal changes and modifying allowable limits for voice recognition systems in future.