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Voice Feature Characteristic in Morbid Obese Population

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Abstract

Background

Morbid obesity is highly prevalent in the Western World, and its consequences present a real public health challenge. Voice alterations can represent one of these consequences and represent an opportunity for interference with therapeutic methods. This particularly features of the individual’s voice was the goal of the present study.

Methods

A group of 45 adult volunteers of both sexes with a BMI greater than 35 Kg/m2 was selected among patients of the Obesity Ambulatory of the Digestive Surgery Division. The control group consisted of volunteers matched by sex, age (±1 year), and smoking habits, but with a BMI bellow 30 Kg/m2. All subjects were submitted to laryngoscopic examination, audio perceptive analysis, and voice acoustics determination. Examinations were always performed by the same doctor, and diagnoses were provided by two different physician specialists in laryngology and voice.

Results

Obese individuals exhibit the following modifications in voice feature: hoarseness, murmuring, vocal instability, altered jitter and shimmer, and reduced maximum phonation times as well the presence of voice strangulation at the end of emission.

Conclusion

The voices of individuals with morbid obesity are different of the voice of nonobese people and demonstrate significant changes in vocal characteristics.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Hospital das Clínicas, São Paulo University Medical School, CPF: 281.583.908-38; RG: 20.289.600-6, Alameda Jaú, 1863 ap. 42. CEP: 01420-002, Cerqueira César, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Maria Gabriela Bernardo da Cunha, Gustavo Haruo Passerotti & Raimar Weber

  2. Gastric Surgery Division, Hospital das Clínicas, São Paulo University Medical School, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Bruno Zilberstein

  3. Digestive Surgery Division, São Paulo University Medical School, São Paulo, SP, Brazil

    Ivan Cecconello

Authors
  1. Maria Gabriela Bernardo da Cunha
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  2. Gustavo Haruo Passerotti
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  3. Raimar Weber
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  4. Bruno Zilberstein
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  5. Ivan Cecconello
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Gabriela Bernardo da Cunha.

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da Cunha, M.G.B., Passerotti, G.H., Weber, R. et al. Voice Feature Characteristic in Morbid Obese Population. OBES SURG 21, 340–344 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-009-9959-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-009-9959-7

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