The Influence of Hormonal Oral Contraception on Voice Parameters in Young Women - a Pilot Study

Objectives. Evaluation of the influence of modern hormonal contraceptive preparations on voice and acoustic voice analysis parameters in young women. Material and Methods. Twenty-nine women were examined (mean age: 25, range: 21-37 years). All patients used hormonal contraceptive pills available on the Polish market. ENT examination and endoscopic evaluation of the larynx were performed. Videostroboscopy of the larynx was performed in each patient, then voice samples were recorded using a dynamic microphone with a preamplifier connected to the sound card of a PC in a room with a noise level no higher than 30 dB. Each sample was acoustically analyzed using Iris software for MDVP. Conclusions. There were no statistically significant changes in the Jitter and Shimmer parameters in the women who used oral hormonal contraception. Statistically significant changes in higher formant frequencies of the vowel "a" were observed. The use of hormonal contraception influenced subjective voice evaluation in the investigated women only to a small degree. The use of hormonal contraception could result in the retention of thick mucus in the larynx (Adv Clin Exp Med 2009, 18, 3, 291-295).