Investigating the Effects of Smoking on Young Adult Male Voice by Using Multidimensional Methods.
OBJECTIVE
Smoking is one of the most common harmful habits in the world, especially common among young adult male population in Turkey. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of smoking on the young adults' male voice using multidimensional voice assessment methods.


METHODS
This is a case-control study.


METHODS
The study included 109 young adult men, 51 nonsmokers and 58 smokers between the ages of 20 and 34 years. The voice evaluation protocol consisted of voice handicap index (VHI), maximum phonation time (MPT), and perceptual, acoustic, and videostroboscopic analyses.


RESULTS
A statistically significant increase for physical, physiological, and total scores of VHI was found in smokers group (P < 0.05). MPT showed significantly lower values among smokers (P < 0.05). There were no significant changes in perceptual analysis of voice samples between smoker and nonsmoker groups. There were no significant changes in any of the acoustic parameters between smoker and nonsmoker groups. Results of videostroboscopic analysis showed significant relationships between smoking and increased vocal fold erythema (P < 0.05). In addition, significantly asymmetry, amplitude, and periodicity abnormality of vocal fold movements were observed in smoker group during phonation (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study indicate that observable signs of laryngeal irritation and disturbed phonatory physiology occur even in young adults with relatively brief smoking habits. Subjective symptoms of smoking on voice appear to occur earlier than objective findings.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: doganpinardr@gmail.com.
Dogan
D
Pinar
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Hakan
H
Cincik
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Evren
E
Erkul
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Gulhane Military Medical Academy, Haydarpasa Training Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Atila
A
Gungor
D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D007818:Laryngeal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D010699:Phonation; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013018:Sound Spectrography; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013066:Speech-Language Pathology / Q000379:methods; D049489:Stroboscopy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D014421:Turkey; D014741:Video Recording; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult
Adult male; Maximum phonation time; Perceptual analysis; Smoking; Videostroboscopy; Voice analysis; Voice handicap index