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Dienerowitz T, Peschel T, Vogel M, Poulain T, Engel C, Kiess W, Fuchs M, Berger T. Establishing Normative Data on Singing Voice Parameters of Children and Adolescents with Average Singing Activity Using the Voice Range Profile. Folia Phoniatr Logop 2021; 73:565-576. [PMID: 33524987 DOI: 10.1159/000513521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2020] [Accepted: 10/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to establish and characterize age- and gender-specific normative data of the singing voice using the voice range profile for clinical diagnostics. Furthermore, associations between the singing voice and the socioeconomic status were examined. METHODS Singing voice profiles of 1,578 mostly untrained children aged between 7.0 and 16.11 years were analyzed. Participants had to reproduce sung tones at defined pitches, resulting in maximum and minimum fundamental frequency and sound pressure level (SPL). In addition, maximum phonation time (MPT) was measured. Percentile curves of frequency, SPL and MPT were estimated. To examine the associations of socioeconomic status, multivariate analyses adjusted for age and sex were performed. RESULTS In boys, the mean of the highest frequency was 750.9 Hz and lowered to 397.1 Hz with increasing age. Similarly, the minimum frequency was 194.4 Hz and lowered to 91.9 Hz. In girls, the mean maximum frequency decreased from 754.9 to 725.3 Hz. The mean minimum frequency lowered from 202.4 to 175.0 Hz. For both sexes, the mean frequency range ∆f showed a constant range of roughly 24 semitones. The MPT increased with age, for boys and girls. There was neither an effect of age nor sex on SPLmin or SPLmax, ranging between 52.6 and 54.1 dBA and between 86.5 and 82.8 dBA, respectively. Socioeconomic status was not associated with the above-mentioned variables. CONCLUSION To our knowledge, this study is the first to present large normative data on the singing voice in childhood and adolescence based on a high number of measurements. In addition, we provide percentile curves for practical application in clinic and vocal pedagogy which may be applied to distinguish between normal and pathological singing voice.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tobias Dienerowitz
- Section of Phoniatrics and Audiology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany, .,LIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany,
| | - Thomas Peschel
- LIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mandy Vogel
- LIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tanja Poulain
- LIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christoph Engel
- Institute for Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,LIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Wieland Kiess
- LIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Women and Child Health, Hospital for Children and Adolescents and Center for Pediatric Research (CPL), University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael Fuchs
- Section of Phoniatrics and Audiology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,LIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Thomas Berger
- Section of Phoniatrics and Audiology, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.,LIFE Leipzig Research Center for Civilization Diseases, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
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