To evaluate the impact of menopause on specific aspects of vocal quality and function in women, including frequency and perceptual scores.
Key Findings:
Postmenopausal women exhibited lower vocal frequency and lower perceptual scores for grade, roughness, and strain compared to premenopausal women, with statistical significance noted.
No significant differences were found in voice-related quality of life (VHI-10) or other acoustic measures like jitter and shimmer.
Age correlated significantly with perceptual voice quality scores and vocal frequency, indicating a potential confounding factor.
Interpretation:
Voice changes in postmenopausal women are attributed to hormonal changes affecting vocal fold edema and muscle atrophy; however, these changes do not negatively impact their quality of life.
Limitations:
The study did not include participants undergoing hormone therapy, which may limit the generalizability of the findings.
Further research is needed to explore laryngeal cytological aspects and hormone receptor presence in relation to vocal changes.
Conclusion:
While menopause alters vocal characteristics, it does not diminish the quality of life for postmenopausal women, as evidenced by the lack of significant differences in voice-related quality of life measures.
