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Do oral contraceptives improve vocal quality? Limited trial on low-dose formulations
Ofer Amir1, Tal Biron-Shental, Chava Muchnik
1Department of Communication Disorders, Sackler Medical School, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel. oferamir@post.tau.ac.il
Objective:
To evaluate the effect of low-dose monophasic oral contraceptives on female vocal quality.
Methods:
Acoustic voice parameters of six women who use oral contraceptives and six women who do not were evaluated repeatedly during the menstrual cycle. Frequency and amplitude variations were measured using a computerized voice analysis program. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was performed to test differences between groups for each acoustic voice parameter.
Results:
Vocal stability among the women who use oral contraceptives was significantly better than among those who did not use oral contraceptives (P <.05). Specifically, amplitude and frequency variations between successive vocal cycles were smaller in women using oral contraceptives in comparison with the control group (.24 dB versus.37 dB and.86% versus 1.27% for amplitude and frequency variations, respectively).
Conclusion:
Contrary to the reports of adverse effects that high-dose pills have on voice, low-dose oral contraceptives show a favorable influence on voice in young women.