Speaking fundamental frequency in healthy young and elderly female Cantonese speakers

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to examine the speaking fundamental frequency in young and older healthy Cantonese-speaking females. It also evaluated the progressive change of speaking fundamental frequency with age. The speaking fundamental frequency obtained from different speech tasks were compared across age groups. Methods: Two groups of vocally healthy females were recruited. Participants included 17 young females and 34 elderly females aged 60 years or above. The elderly group was comprised of three different age cohorts: young-old, old-old, and oldest-old. Each participant produced three speech tasks: sustained vowel /a/ prolongation, reading aloud a sentence, and a passage. Results: The results showed that in general, there was a gradual decrease in speaking fundamental frequency from the age of 20s. A significant difference in speaking fundamental frequency of young and older females was noted only in passage reading. There was no significant difference in speaking fundamental frequency among the elderly subgroups. A significant speech task effect on speaking fundamental frequency was noted. Conclusions: The findings provided preliminary data of speaking fundamental frequency of females in different decades of age. This provided the diagnostic and therapeutic significance in clinical settings.