ABSTRACT:
Purpose:
to analyze the data of vocal self-assessment of menopausal women and compare them to those obtained by a control group.
Methods:
cross-sectional, observational and analytical study in which 42 women aged between 19 and 60 years, divided into control group (21 women in reproductive age) and study group (21 women in menopause). Each participant answered a questionnaire developed by the researchers, which contained data on: general health, treatments carried out, smoking, alcohol use, professional use of voice and gynecological data, and vocal self-assessment protocols Voice Symptom Scale, Voice Handicap Index and Voice-Related Quality of Life. Data were analyzed using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney and Pearson correlation, considering the significance level of 5%.
Results:
the study group had significant higher levels in the functional domain of the Voice Handicap Index and significant lower in the social-emotional domain Voice-Related Quality of Life. Nevertheless, the scores of these domains were as expected for healthy voices. There was no correlation between the results of vocal self-assessment and the time when women stopped menstruating.
Conclusion:
Women in menopause, despite having differences to women in reproductive age as the vocal self-assessment, present symptoms, quality of life in voice and voice handicap compatible with those presented by individuals with healthy voices.
Keywords:
Health Evaluation; Menopause; Quality of Life; Voice
