Respiratory and laryngeal measures of children and women with bilateral vocal fold nodules

Simultaneous assessment of laryngeal and respiratory function was completed on 8 children and 10 women with bilateral vocal fold nodules and compared to that of 8 children and 10 women with normal voice production. Laryngeal function for the individuals with bilateral vocal fold nodules was characterized by significantly higher peak, alternating, and minimum glottal airflow. The presence of the high glottal airflow was accompanied by a significantly larger lung volume excursion. Both the children with nodules and those with normal voice showed laryngeal and respiratory function differences when compared to adults. All subject groups demonstrated appropriate laryngeal and respiratory function when increasing intensity from comfortable to loud speech. Simultaneous measurement of laryngeal and respiratory function using a multidimensional analysis of voice production is advocated in the evaluation of voice disorders because it can provide specific information regarding which of the subsystems of voice production are compromised.