Acoustic voice analysis of women with migraine.

BACKGROUND

Migraine and voice are related because of the shared pathophysiological mechanisms involving the vagus nerve, which also innervates the larynx.

OBJECTIVE

To conduct acoustic voice analysis and evaluate voice-related quality of life in women with migraine, in comparison with a control group.

METHODS

In the current cross-sectional study, we performed voice recordings and used the Voice-Related Quality of Life and migraine characteristics questionnaires. The variables included loudness, fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, glottal-to-noise excitation ratio, and phonatory deviation diagram.

RESULTS

The sample comprised 193 women (55 in the control group and 138 in the migraine group). No statistically significant differences were observed between the groups regarding the acoustic variables studied. The migraine group reported poorer scores in the physical domain of the Voice-Related Quality of Life questionnaire (p = 0.003) compared to the control group. The Random Forest statistical model predicted group allocation with 76% of precision.

CONCLUSION

In the studied sample, no differences were observed between women with migraine and the control group regarding the parameters of acoustic voice analysis. Women with migraine presented poorer voice-related quality of life compared to the control group.