Gli effetti dei contraccettivi orali sulla voce cantata

From all bodily systems that can impair the desired artistic gestalt of singing, the endocrine system has been pointed out as one of most influence. The voice changes as a consequence of sex steroid hormonal variations during, for example, puberty, the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and the menopause. Despite such changes may also occur in association with hormonal medication use, these effects are still not completely understood, specially concerning professional voice users. For these professionals, even mild vocal changes may significantly impact on the quality of their performances.

The study here presented constitutes the first and, so far, solo double blind randomised placebo controlled trial investigating the effects of a specific combined oral contraceptive pill (containing drospirenone) on the classical singing performance. A group of 9 singers [mean age = 23.10 years; SD = 2.183 years; range (21-27) years], volunteered to participate. They all took 3 months of OCP and 3 months of matched placebo, randomly and double blind allocated in the study. Both blood and voice samples were collected at three specific phases of the menstrual cycle, for both OCP and placebo use: menstruation and follicular and luteal phases. Blood samples were analysed for concentrations of sex steroid hormones whereas voice analysis concerned intonation (octave size), vibrato rate and extent and pattern of vibration of the vocal folds.

The results suggested that OCP use contributes to the stabilization of the vibration of the vocal folds. It seemed that this was related with reductions in the concentrations of testosterone during the menstrual and follicular phases of the cycle. Concerning intonation, OCP use seemed to contribute to a shortening effect of the octave size, especially for the interval F4-F5. Also for the note F5, the vibrato rate was significantly reduced when using OCP. Further investigations should be carried out to clarify the neurological effects of OCP on the feedback loop mechanisms of voice production.