title: The quality of life impact of dysphonia.
abstract: Dysphonia can affect social life and employment, but formal studies of its general health impact are lacking. The aims of this study were (i) to compare self-rated general health status as measured by the SF-36 in a large cohort of dysphonic patients with those from normative groups; and (ii) to examine the differential impact of dysphonia on the various health status domains. The 163 dysphonic voice clinic attendees (38 men, 125 women) were drawn from recruits to a prospective trial of speech therapy efficacy. The Short-Form 36 (SF-36) scores were compared with published data on 744 age-matched healthy controls. Patients with dysphonia had significantly poorer self-reported health than the controls on all eight SF-36 subscales (limitation of physical activity P < 0.05; other seven, all P < 0.001, Student's t-test). We thus conclude that dysphonia in patients without obvious laryngeal disease has an adverse impact on all health status subscales as measured by the SF-36. The study provides further evidence for the inclusion quality of life measures in otolaryngology baseline and outcome assessments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, University of Newcastle, UK. Janet.Wilsonnuth@northy.nhs.uk
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: I J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Deary
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Millar
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mackenzie
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy