[The outcome of hydration in functional dysphonia]

Functional dysphonia has high prevalence among professional voice users. Different aspects should be considered in vocal therapy. One of them is hydration. The aim of the present study is to assess the effect of hydration on a few aspect of vocal dysfunction. 75 subjects were distributed into three different groups. 23 participated as a control group, 27 received hydration treatment and 25 received hydration treatment plus voice training. Dryness, mucosity, phonatory effort, hoarseness, fundamental frequency (Fo), maximum phonatory time (MPT), time of speech and laryngeal status were the variables evaluated at time 0 and 14 days later, immediately after the completion of the treatment of each group. Statistical differences regarding dryness (p = 0.003) and hoarseness (p = 0.033) were found between the control group and the groups receiving treatment. There were no statistical differences in severity and frequency of variables measured at time 0 at 14 days later in the control group. However, all variables except laryngeal status, improved significantly in the groups receiving hydration alone. Only clinical variables improved in the combined group. These findings indicated a therapeutic benefit of hydration, with or without voice training, for functional dysphonia. Further studies using acoustic and stroboscopic analysis are required in order to define the effect of hydration on the compliance of glottic sphincter.