Aging and Voice: A Pilot Study Investigating Aerodynamic and Acoustic Measurements in Older Adults

In individuals over 65, age is an essential factor in voice changes. Acoustic and aerodynamic norms guide clinicians in interpreting clinical voice assessment results. This study aimed to present aerodynamic-acoustic voice measurements in older individuals with no voice complaints. It was also aimed to compare the objective voice parameters between different older age groups and genders.

Total of 70 participants from the young old (65-74 years), middle old (75-84 years), and old old age groups (>85 years) without voice complaints were included. Participants were recruited from a nursing home. Participants were asked to perform prolonged phonation of /a/, /s/, and /z/. The PRAAT program was used in the analysis.

The mean aerodynamic-acoustic analysis results for the young, middle, and old-old age groups are presented, respectively. For maximum phonation time (MPT), it is 16.6, 11.18, and 7.56 seconds. For the s/z ratio, it is 1.03, 1.31, and 1.22. Fundamental frequency (F0) is 202.18, 193.37, and 229.13 for females and 150.44, 128.22, and 144.25 Hz for males. Standard deviation of fundamental frequency (SDF0) is 2.09, 8.88, and 6.34. Jitter percentage (jit%) is 0.48, 0.65, and 0.48. Shimmer percentage (shim%) is 2.64, 3.58, and 3.3. Harmonic-to-noise ratio (HNR) is 22.38, 20.95, and 20.88. The mean MPT score of the young-old group was significantly higher than those of the middle and old (P < 0.05). The mean SDF0 of the middle-old group was significantly higher than that of the young-old (P < 0.05).

The differences in the mean acoustic-aerodynamic voice parameters between age groups are thought to substantially reflect the characteristics of the physiological aging process with different acoustic variables at different periods. It was also found that the overall stability control in vocal fold vibration decreases with aging, as shown by changes in SDF0 and MPT.