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Updated: Jul 9, 2026
Investigating the Three-dimensional Flow Separation Induced by a Model Vocal Fold Polyp
Published on: February 3, 2014
Aerodynamic assessment of young women's voices as a function of oral contraceptive use
Mary Gorham-Rowan1, Linda Fowler
1Department of Communication Disorders, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Fla., USA. mmgorhamrowan@valdosta.edu
Objective:
To examine possible differences in glottal airflow parameters according to oral contraceptive (OC) use.
Subjects And Methods:
The participants included 16 women, 20-24 years of age. Eight women were taking a triphasic OC; the remaining 8 women were not taking any form of oral contraception (NOC). All participants were recorded on days 7 and 14 of their menstrual cycle. Three repetitions of the sustained vowel /a/ were obtained using a circumferentially vented respiratory face mask connected to a wide-band pressure transducer. Measures of peak flow, minimum flow, alternating flow, fundamental frequency (F(0)) and relative sound pressure level were obtained.
Results:
A multivariate analysis of variance with sound pressure level as a covariate revealed no significant effect of day of recording upon the dependent measures. As a group, the OC women exhibited significantly higher F(0), peak and alternating flow rates compared to the NOC women. Removal of data outliers from the OC women resulted in similar airflow rates for both groups.
Conclusion:
The findings from this preliminary study did not support the use of glottal airflow measures to distinguish OC women from NOC women. Differences in F(0) findings may reflect hormonally mediated changes in laryngeal tissue and warrant further investigation.
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