Prevalence and Voice Characteristics in an Indian Treatment-seeking Population for Voice Disorders

JOURNAL TITLE: An International Journal of Otorhinolaryngology Clinics

Author
1. Usha Devadas
2. Srikanth Nayak
3. Prisca M Thomas
ISSN
0975-444X
DOI
10.5005/jp-journals-10003-1391
Volume
13
Issue
3
Publishing Year
2021
Pages
8
Author Affiliations
    1. Department of Speech and Hearing, Manipal College of Health Professions, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India
    1. Department of Audiology and Speech–Language Pathology, Yenepoya Medical College, Yenepoya University (Deemed to be University), Mangaluru, Karnataka, India
    1. Department of Speech and Hearing, Manipal College of Health Professions, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India
  • Article keywords
    Epidemiology, Laryngeal pathology, Prevalence, Voice disorder

    Abstract

    Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics of a treatment-seeking population visiting the voice clinic of the Speech and Hearing department in a tertiary care hospital. Study design: Retrospective study. Methods: The study included patient's data who visited the voice clinic from January 2015 to January 2020. The retrospective data related to laryngeal pathology, age, gender, occupation, overall grade (G score of GRBAS), maximum phonation duration, S/Z ratio, and acoustic parameters (F0, jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio) were tabulated and analyzed. Results: The study results were analyzed and reported from 524 patient records. The frequency of organic/structural vocal pathology was observed to be higher (n = 468; 89.3%) than functional/nonstructural pathologies (n = 38; 7.3%). Vocal nodules (28.1%), vocal fold paralysis/paresis (15.5%), vocal fold edema (13.7%), sulcus vocalis (7.3%), and vocal polyps (6.1%) were the most common (those occurred in more than 5% of the patients) diagnosis observed for the overall sample. Male dysphonic patients (n = 283; 54%) outnumbered the females (n = 241; 46%). The majority of patients consulting the voice clinic for dysphonia were between 25 and 64 years. The most common occupations seeking help for voice problems were homemaker, student, teacher, business, farmer, retired, singer, and laborer. The overall perceived hoarseness was significantly higher in males compared to females. Conclusion: The present study results allowed a better understanding of characteristics of treatment-seeking population for voice disorders visiting voice clinic. Identification of characteristics and diagnosis of individuals seeking treatment for voice disorders help the speech language pathologists to increase the awareness among the general population about preventive voice care strategies.

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