The aim of this study was to compare the performance in speech tasks of Chilean adults according to age and gender in order to obtain normative data for the assessment of speech's evaluation of our population. A total of 90 subjects... more
The aim of this study was to compare the performance in speech tasks of Chilean adults according to age and gender in order to obtain normative data for the assessment of speech's evaluation of our population. A total of 90 subjects between 40 and 69 years old were evaluated. The test battery was comprised of measures of Maximum Phonation Duration (MPD), oral, jaw, lips and lingual movements, oral diadochokinesis, oral reading speed and automatic speech speed. Male subjects performed significantly better than female subjects in MPD, tongue movements, and repetition of syllables and words. Adults aged 50-59 years performed significantly better than the other age groups in lips movements, syllables and words repetitions, and automatic speech speed. Based on these findings this study reveals that the performance in speech tasks differs according to the age and gender of this subjects. The values obtained differ from those reported in studies of English-speaking subjects.
