Vocal Fold Vibration in Older Adults With and Without Age-Related Dysphonia

The purpose of this study was to identify the extent to which 7 measures of glottal area timing and regularity differ between older adults with and without age-related dysphonia (ARD).

Laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy was completed at 4,000 frames per second for 42 adults aged 70 years and older (ARD: 9 female, 5 male; control group: 15 female, 13 male). Relative glottal gap, open quotient, speed index, maximum area declination rate, harmonics-to-noise ratio, harmonic richness factor, and standard deviation of fundamental frequency were measured from a 0.5-s segment of the glottal area waveform. Eta squared (η2) was computed to estimate group effect.

Small effect sizes (η2 = .18-.35) were present for relative glottal gap, open quotient, maximum area declination rate, harmonic richness factor, and standard deviation of fundamental frequency. Speed index and glottal harmonics-to-noise ratio did not explain group membership (η2 = .001 and .05, respectively).

These findings provide evidence that vocal fold vibration in ARD is different than in normal aging, whereas the overlap in values for every measure is consistent with the concept that normal aging and ARD exist as a continuum of health and disease.