Nasal resonance in middle-aged women: a multiparameter approach

Aging influences several speech characteristics in middle-aged women. However, the effect of aging on nasal resonance has not been widely investigated, and findings are contradictory. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of aging on nasal resonance by comparing young women (between 20 and 28 years of age) with middle-aged women (between 45 and 55 years of age).

Thirty-one middle-aged women with a mean age of 48 years participated in the subject group. The control group consisted of 22 young women with a mean age of 23 years. To investigate nasal resonance, we used a multiparameter approach by means of the Nasal Severity Index (NSI). Objective acoustic (nasal resonance scores of sounds and connected speech measured with the Nasometer) and aerodynamic measurements (maximum duration time of /s/, vital capacity, and mirror fogging test), as well as perceptual evaluations (Gutzmann /a/-i/test), were performed.

The results of this study showed no differences in aerodynamic measurements and nasal resonance scores of connected speech and the sounds /i/, /u/, and /m/. Only the mean nasal resonance score of /a/ and the Gutzmann /a/ test were significantly different between the young and middle-aged women. The mean (+/- SD) NSI scores of the young women (12.93 +/- 17.9) and the middle-aged women (-1.49 +/- 14.4) both corresponded to normal nasal resonance.

The results of this study indicate that both young and middle-aged women show a normal nasal resonance. Differences in objective and subjective measurements of nasal resonance were only found in isolated vowels, and not in connected speech.