PURPOSE: to analyze the measures of respiratory dynamics in elderly citizens taking part in elderly groups. METHOD: we studied 41 participants, 32 female and nine male, mean age of 69.90 years. The evaluation included measures of the maximum phonation time (MPT) of vowels /a/, /i/, /u/, consonants /s/ and /z/, and counting numbers; s/z ratio; value of Vital Capacity (VC), Simple Phonic Quotient (SPQ) and Composed Phonic Quotient (CPQ). RESULTS: the mean values of MPT, for males, of vowels, consonants and counting numbers were respectively 18.11s; 19.22s; 19.11s; 15.22s and 15.61s and 18.77s, and the s/z ratio was 0.98. For females, the means for the same measures of TMF were respectively 13.94s; 14.19s; 13.98s; 10.11s and 11.63s; 13.90 s and 0.92 to the s/z ratio. The mean time of vowels emission was significantly higher than the mean value for the consonants in the female group. The mean value of VC without nasal occlusion was 2.247ml for females and 3.211ml for males. Significant relation between the VC and age was observed in the female group. The mean values of SPQ found for the male and female groups were, respectively, 182.11 ml/s e 176.58 ml/s. The mean values of CPQ were 184.35 ml/s for the males and 186.93 ml/s for the females. CONCLUSION: measures of respiratory dynamics concerning the participants were close to the reference values in literature for adults as well as close to those of older studies, and differences were a little more or less than the different studied measures.
Health Promotion; Aging; Respiration; Vital Capacity
