| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 特殊教育學系 === 107 === The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of menopause on vocal function, voice acoustics, perceptual vocal quality, vocal-related life quality and the severity of menopausal symptoms. There were 80 women recruited and divided into the two groups: perimenopause group and postmenopause according to their menopause status. The voice acoustical variables analyzed included Fundamental frequency (F0) for vowel prolongation and four affective sentence production (neutral, happiness, angry and sadness), jitter, shimmer, Harmonics-to-Noise ratio (HNR). The measurement of vocal function included maximum phonation time (MPT), highest and lowest frequency, maximum phonational frequency range (MPFR) and vocal cord diadochokinesis.
The results showed that MPT in postmenopause group (M=14.69 s) were significantly lower than those in perimenopause group (M=17.90 s). Vocal cord diadochokinesis rates in postmenopause group (M=4.48 syllables per second) were significantly slower than those in perimenopause group (M=5.24 syllables per second). The results showed that highest phonation frequency of postmenopause group (M=378.29 Hz) were significantly lower than those of perimenopause group (M=439.49 Hz). No significant differences was found in lowest phonation frequency. Maximum phonational frequency range in postmenopause group (M=298.88 Hz) were significantly smaller than those in perimenopause group (M=363.37 Hz).
The result also showed that F0 of vowel prolongation and four affective sentences in postmenopause group were significantly lower than in perimenopause group (About lower 18~20 Hz). Jitter and shimmer of vowels in postmenopause group were significantly higher than in perimenopause group. No significant differences was found in HNR.
For perceptual voice quality evaluation, significantly higher scores for roughness and strain were observed in the postmenopause group, when comparing with the perimenopause group. VHI-10 score were not significantly different between both groups. Menopause Rating Scale scores in perimenopause group were significantly higher than those in postmenopause group.
Postmenopause women not only showed lower F0 but also had higher acoustic perturbations in their voice. However, these vocal changes do not seem to affect the quality of life for these postmenopausal women.
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