Voice Change as a Result of Androgen Supplementation in Cisgender Women: A Scoping Review.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Scoping review synthesizing heterogeneous descriptive literature without systematic meta-analysis
PubMed 40641310 · doi:10.1002/lary.32424
What was done
A scoping review searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus through October 10, 2024, for articles evaluating voice changes in cisgender women receiving androgen supplementation. From 2,191 initial records, 1,420 were screened by title and abstract, 78 underwent full-text review, and 14 studies met inclusion criteria.
What was found
Voice changes in cisgender women varied by androgen dose, duration, and route. Transdermal formulations demonstrated minimal vocal effects, whereas intramuscular injections of testosterone or anabolic steroids were linked to pitch lowering, voice instability, impaired vocal range, vocal fatigue, and structural alterations, especially in premenopausal women. The abstract reports no numerical statistics or effect sizes.
Why it matters
Off-label androgen use in cisgender women carries a risk of potentially irreversible voice deepening, highlighting the need for clinical caution and safe dosing guidelines.
Limits
The abstract reports no total participant count, numerical effect estimates, or confidence intervals. Findings are constrained by the variable off-label dosing across included studies and the descriptive nature of a scoping review.
Cited by
- supports Voice deepening in women caused by androgen/testosterone virilization is irreversible.