Breathing behaviors during speech in healthy females and patients with vocal fold nodules

The purpose of the present investigation was to compare 6 females with vocal nodules and 14 normal controls with regard to a number of respiratory parameters, sound pressure level (SPL) and fundamental frequency during five different speaking tasks. The hypothesis was that patients with vocal nodules differ from normal speakers with regard to respiratory behavior during speech. Lung volume changes were recorded by means of respiratory inductive plethysmography. The results were significantly influenced by the different tasks for many of the parameters. The results also indicate that the nodule patients had greater subglottal pressure, SPL and mean air flow, fewer syllables per breath group and shorter duration of inhalations than the controls. During spontaneous speech, the females with vocal nodules tended to initiate and terminate phonation at lower lung volumes than the controls and, in shouting, their average initiation lung volume was clearly lower as compared with those of the controls; thus, the patients refrained from taking advantage of the greater recoil contributions to lung pressure associated with high lung volumes. The differences between tasks and groups of this exploratory study are discussed.