Summary
Objectives
To examine the prevalence of dysphagia in patients presenting with dysphonia and diagnosed
with non-neoplastic vocal fold pathology.
Methods
A total of 45 patients presenting with dysphonia and diagnosed with non-neoplastic
vocal fold pathology and a control group matched according to age and gender were
included. Patients with recent history of respiratory tract infection, laryngeal surgery
or manipulation, neurologic disorders, head and neck tumors, or history of chemotherapy/radiotherapy
were excluded. The primary outcome measure for dysphagia was Eating Assessment Tool-10.
Patients with a score above three were considered to have dysphagia.
Results
The 45 patients were stratified as 18 males and 27 females, with an overall mean age
of 48.23 ± 14.65 years. The most common vocal fold pathology was Reinke edema (28.8%),
followed by laryngitis (24.4%), and vocal fold nodules (17.7%) and polyps (13.33%).
Out of 45 patients with dysphonia, 37.7% had dysphagia and out of 25 controls, 8%
had dysphagia as evidenced by an Eating Assessment Tool-10 score of above three. This
prevalence is higher than normative values reported in the literature (16%–22%).
Conclusions
The high prevalence of dysphagia in patients with non-neoplastic vocal fold pathology
alludes to the pathogenic role of laryngeal behavior in the development of obstructive
swallowing symptoms. The potential benefit of voice and swallowing therapy in the
treatment of these patients should be considered.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 05, 2018
Accepted:
May 16,
2018
Footnotes
There is no conflict of interest or financial support in relation to this paper.
Identification
Copyright
© 2018 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
