The effect of relative humidity of inhaled air on acoustic parameters of voice in normal subjects

The hypothesis that relative humidity (RH) of air exerts an effect on voice has been widely accepted. The aim of this study has been to assess whether this can be demonstrated. Eight healthy subjects inhaled during ten minutes three different air conditions: dry, standard room, and humidified air. A...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of voice 1997-09, Vol.11 (3), p.295-300
Main Authors: Hemler, R J, Wieneke, G H, Dejonckere, P H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Female
Humans
Humidity
Male
Pulmonary Ventilation
Speech Acoustics
Voice - physiology
Voice Quality
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Summary:The hypothesis that relative humidity (RH) of air exerts an effect on voice has been widely accepted. The aim of this study has been to assess whether this can be demonstrated. Eight healthy subjects inhaled during ten minutes three different air conditions: dry, standard room, and humidified air. After inhalation, the subjects produced repeatedly a sustained /a/ of controlled pitch and loudness, which was analyzed for perturbation and noise-to-harmonic parameters. Perturbation measures increased after inhalation of dry air. No significant differences existed between standard and humidified air. No significant difference in the noise-to-harmonic ratio was found among the three conditions. We conclude that the human voice is very sensitive to decreases in RH of inhaled air, because even after a short provocation with dry air, a significant increase in perturbation measures was found.
ISSN:0892-1997
DOI:10.1016/S0892-1997(97)80007-0