Auditory perception of lay judges about gender identification of women with Reinke's edema

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the auditory perception of lay judges of the voice gender identification of women with Reinke's edema and to associate it with its severity and fundamental frequency (F0). Methods: This is an observational, analytical and cross-sectional study. A total of 46 lay judges analyzed 48 samples (counting numbers 1 to 10) of 24 women with Reinke's edema - the Reinke's Edema Group (REG) and 24 individuals, men and women, with other types of voice disorders - Control Group (CG). The judges had to classify the voices as being of a man or a woman. Additionally, they needed to indicate their certainty or not about their choice. Results were associated with the severity of the Reinke's edema (Type 1, 2 or 3) and the F0 (extracted from the vowel /ε/). Results: Misidentification of gender was higher in the REG and certainty about the choice was higher in the CG. Type 1 cases caused fewer misidentifications compared to type 2 and 3. The women's voices that were identified as male voices had a lower F0 (141Hz) when compared to voices that were correctly identified (149Hz). Conclusion: Women with Reinke's edema are frequently identified as men. Lower F0 was related with more misidentification and less certainty when assessing the speaker's gender.