Age and Sex Differences in Acoustic Parameter of Middle Age and Elderly Adult Voice

장.노년기 성인 음성의 성별과 연령에 따른 음향음성학적 특성 비교

This study focused on comparing the following acoustic changes according to age and sex in adulthood: Fo, Jitter, Shimmer, and NHR. One hundred twenty Korean adults were divided into three age groups (20's, 50's, and 70's) and two sex groups (male and female). The subjects of this study performed three tasks: (1) sustained three vowels; (2) read on paragraph of 'Taking a Walk' (3) explained a picture. The data was analyzed using the MDVP of Multi-Speech. In the parameter of Fo, sex and age were influential factors. In the parameters of Jitter, Shimmer and NHR, the effect of sex and age was different in all three parameters. When the groups organized by sex were analyzed by age, the 20's group showed a statistical difference in all four parameters (Fo, Jitter, Shimmer, and NKR), when compared to the other two age ranges of 50's and 70's. We need to consider our standard parameter for the normal voice in the Korean elderly because the 50's and 70's age normal groups in our study are out of the current range of normal in MDVP.