Summary
Background
The knowledge of vocal mutation is important for speech pathologists in the diagnosis
and management of individuals with mutational voice disorders. However, data on vocal
mutation in the Indian population are scarce and hence the present study was planned
to investigate the age of attainment of vocal mutation in boys and girls from Mangalore,
India, in the age range of 8–18 years.
Methods
A total of 600 participants in the age range of 8–18 years were divided into 10 groups
with a 1-year interval. Sustained phonation /a/ and a narration were recorded. Two-way
analysis of variance was used to obtain significant difference between the means across
age and gender for the fundamental frequency and formant frequency measures.
Results
There was significant main effect of groups for fundamental frequency measure in boys,
with post hoc tests revealing statistically significant differences from 14 years
of age onward. However, the cutoff criteria of 140 Hz in boys and 240 Hz in girls
were attained only by 16 years of age in boys and 15 years in girls, indicating that
16 and 15 years as the ages of onset of vocal mutation in boys and girls, respectively.
Results also revealed that first formant frequency undergoes changes from 13 years
onward. However, F2 changes from 16 years of age, with no significance observed in
F3.
Conclusion
The results of the present study are useful in the assessment and management of individuals
with mutational voice disorders.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 07, 2017
Accepted:
November 28,
2016
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
