Impact of laryngeal findings on acoustic parameters of patients with laryngopharyngeal reflux.
OBJECTIVE
To identify the effects of laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR)-related laryngeal findings on objective voice parameters.


METHODS
Two hundred and thirty patients clinically diagnosed as having LPR and 48 healthy controls were included. The reflux finding score was determined for each subject via videolaryngoscopy. The acoustic parameters evaluated were jitter, shimmer, noise-to-harmonic ratio and Voice Turbulence Index (VTI).


RESULTS
Shimmer and VTI showed statistically significant differences between the LPR and control groups among males (p < 0.05). For females, all of the 4 acoustic voice parameters were significantly different between the two groups (p < 0.05). Erythema/hyperemia was found to affect the highest number of voice parameters. VTI was found to be affected by the highest number of laryngeal findings.


CONCLUSIONS
Objective voice changes were documented in LPR patients, with VTI being the most affected parameter, and therefore it should be considered in the acoustic analysis of patients with LPR in addition to the conventional parameters. With hyperemia in the first rank, ventricular obliteration, pseudosulcus and vocal fold edema are found to have an impact on voice, suggesting that these should be concentrated on in the diagnosis and follow-up of LPR patients with voice disorders.
Department of Otolaryngology, Ege Reflux Study Group, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey. serdar@akyildiz.net
Serdar
S
Akyildiz
Fatih
F
Ogut
Ahmet
A
Varis
Tayfun
T
Kirazli
Serhat
S
Bor
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D057045:Laryngopharyngeal Reflux / Q000150:complications*; D007828:Laryngoscopy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult