Maximum Phonation Time and Body Mass Index in Nondysphonic Eutrophic Children

Literature presents controversial maximum phonation time values in children.

Verify and correlate the maximum phonation time of vowels /a, i, u/ and the body mass index of children.

Evaluation of 484 children, eutrophic and without dysphonia, aged from 4:00 to 7:11 years.

questionnaire, audiometric screening, auditory-perceptual evaluation of voice, and assessment of the body mass index.

measurement of the maximum phonation time of /a, i, u/. Descriptive statistics, t test, and multiple regression at 5% significance.

/a:/ = 3.77 seconds at age 4:00 years, 5 seconds at 5:00, 5.85 seconds at 6:00, and 7.5 seconds at 7:00 for boys, and 3.89 seconds, 4.89 seconds, 5.61 seconds, and 6.61 seconds for girls, respectively; /i:/ = 3.49 seconds at age 4:00 years, 4.96 seconds at 5:00, 5.72 seconds at 6:00, and 6.88 seconds at 7:00 for boys, and 3.49 seconds, 4.73 seconds, 5.41 seconds, and 6.63 seconds for girls, respectively; /u:/ = 3.64 seconds at age 4:00 years, 4.85 seconds at 5:00, 5.76 seconds at 6:00, and 7.08 seconds at 7:00 for boys, and 3.54 seconds, 4.73 seconds, 5.64 seconds, and 6.47 seconds for girls, respectively. There were no significant differences between genders, except for /a:/ at age 7:00 years. The correlations were not significant.

Maximum phonation time of /a, i, u/ increased with age and its value in seconds was approximately equal to the age in years. At the age 7:00 years, /a:/ from boys was longer. The body mass index did not show influence on the maximum phonation times.