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Phonatory Symptoms and Acoustic Findings in Patients with Asthma: A Cross-Sectional Controlled Study

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Abstract

To investigate the prevalence of phonatory symptoms, perceptual, acoustic and aerodynamic findings in patients with asthma compared to a control group. This study is a cross-sectional study. A total of 50 subjects, 31 asthmatic and 19 control subjects matched according to age and gender were enrolled in this study. All subjects were asked about the presence or absence of dysphonia, vocal fatigue, phonatory effort, cough, dyspnea, and respiratory failure. Perceptual evaluation, acoustic analysis and aerodynamic measurements were also performed. Patient’s self assessment using the Voice Handicap Index 10 was reported. The mean age of patients was 43.5 years with a female to male ratio of 2:1. There was a statistically significant difference in the prevalence of dysphonia between the two groups (32.3 vs. 5.3%, p value 0.025) with a non-significant higher prevalence of vocal fatigue and phonatory effort. The overall grade of dysphonia was significantly higher in asthmatics compared to controls (p value 0.002). Patients with asthma had also significantly higher degree of asthenia and straining (p value of 0.04 and 0.008, respectively) with borderline significant difference with respect to roughness. There was no significant difference in the means of any of the acoustic parameters between patients and controls except for Shimmer, which was higher in the asthmatic group (p value of 0.037). There was also no significant difference in the Maximum phonation time between the two groups. Dysphonia is significantly more prevalent in patients with asthma compared to controls.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon

    Abdul Latif Hamdan, Georges Ziade, Leslie Akl & Ibrahim Bawab

  2. Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Rafic Hariri University Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon

    Maher Kasti

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, American University of Beirut, P.O. Box: 11-0236, Beirut, Lebanon

    Nadim Kanj

Authors
  1. Abdul Latif Hamdan
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  2. Georges Ziade
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  3. Maher Kasti
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  4. Leslie Akl
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  5. Ibrahim Bawab
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  6. Nadim Kanj
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Correspondence to Nadim Kanj.

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All authors of this manuscript declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional Review Board and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants involved in the study.

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Hamdan, A.L., Ziade, G., Kasti, M. et al. Phonatory Symptoms and Acoustic Findings in Patients with Asthma: A Cross-Sectional Controlled Study. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 69, 42–46 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-016-1035-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12070-016-1035-8

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