Background: Morbid obesity is highly prevalent in the Western World, and its consequences present a real public health challenge. Voice alterations can represent one of these consequences and represent an opportunity for interference with therapeutic methods. This particularly features of the individual's voice was the goal of the present study.
Methods: A group of 45 adult volunteers of both sexes with a BMI greater than 35 Kg/m(2) was selected among patients of the Obesity Ambulatory of the Digestive Surgery Division. The control group consisted of volunteers matched by sex, age (±1 year), and smoking habits, but with a BMI below 30 Kg/m(2). All subjects were submitted to laryngoscopic examination, audio perceptive analysis, and voice acoustics determination. Examinations were always performed by the same doctor, and diagnoses were provided by two different physician specialists in laryngology and voice.
Results: Obese individuals exhibit the following modifications in voice feature: hoarseness, murmuring, vocal instability, altered jitter and shimmer, and reduced maximum phonation times as well the presence of voice strangulation at the end of emission.
Conclusion: The voices of individuals with morbid obesity are different of the voice of nonobese people and demonstrate significant changes in vocal characteristics.