Summary
Objective
Little is known about the impact of smoking on voice acoustics. Some studies have
found that tobacco affects the fundamental frequency of the voice, whereas others
have not. This study aimed to overcome the major methodological limitations observed
in previous studies by strictly controlling several variables that could clarify the
effect of smoking on the speaking voice.
Methods
Lebanese men were chosen for this study. Thirty nonsmokers, 30 cigarette smokers,
and 30 water-pipe smokers were matched on the basis of age, height, and weight. The
90 participants were asked to complete the Voice Handicap Index, sustain the vowel
/a/, read 10 sentences in French and Arabic, and speak spontaneously in both languages.
The mean fundamental frequency (F0), speaking fundamental frequency (SFF), jitter,
and standard deviation of F0 were measured using Praat and Vocalab4 and were compared between the groups.
Results
The Voice Handicap Index scores differed significantly between nonsmokers and cigarette
smokers and between nonsmokers and water-pipe smokers. Results also show that cigarette
smokers' F0 and SFF were significantly lower than nonsmokers' results. No significant
differences were found between water-pipe smokers and nonsmokers. The jitter and the
standard deviation of F0 did not differ significantly between the two groups.
Conclusions
Our findings clearly demonstrate the effect of smoking on the voice: smokers reported
more voice complaints, and cigarette smokers presented lower F0 and SFF in French
and in Arabic when age, height, and weight were controlled. Further investigations
using similar strict controls over individual variables and additional measures are
encouraged to better understand the effect of water-pipe smoking on the voice.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 07, 2018
Accepted:
April 2,
2018
Footnotes
The research was presented at PEVOC 12 (Pan-European Voice Conference) on August 30, 2017 – Ghent, Belgium.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
