ABSTRACT
Purpose:
to characterize and associate children's maximum phonation time of voiced /e/ and voiceless /e/ (/ė/), body mass index and gender.
Methods:
field and quantitative analytical observational cross-sectional study attended by 102 children aged between eight and 12 years (mean 9.66 years), being 53 (51.96%) girls and 49 (48.04%) boys. The subjects have gone through hearing screening, anthropometric assessment and collection of the maximum phonation times of /e/, /ė/. Data were analyzed using non-parametric Mann-Whitney and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient tests, with 5% significance level.
Results:
there was no difference of maximum phonation times of /e/, /ė/, or the relationship between them as a function of body mass index and age, but male children showed maximum phonation time significantly of /e/ higher than girls. No correlation was found between maximum phonation time and body mass index.
Conclusion:
there was no difference between maximum phonation time of /ė/, /e/ and ė/e ratio, according to age and body mass index, and body mass index and maximum phonation time were not correlated, showing homogeneity between measures within the group without influence of body mass index on the maximum phonation time. As for gender, boys presented maximum phonation time of /e/ higher than girls and only children aged eight years had maximum phonation time as expected.
Keywords:
Health Assessment; Child; Nutritional Status; Body Mass Index; Voice
