Vocal Evaluation of Children with Congenital Hypothyroidism

To evaluate the vocal characteristics of a group of children with congenital hypothyroidism (CH) and the association of these characteristics with the children's clinical, laboratory, and therapeutic profiles.

Observational, analytical, cross-sectional study including 200 prepubertal children, of whom 100 had CH (study group [SG]) and 100 had no CH (control group [CG]). The following parameters were evaluated: 1) history (identification, complaints, and interfering variables), 2) auditory-perceptual and acoustic evaluation (samples analyzed by a group of specialists, and objectively by a computer program), 3) self-assessment scores in the Pediatric Voice-Related Quality-of-Life (PVRQoL) survey, 4) laryngological evaluation (presence or absence of laryngeal lesions and data regarding glottal closure), and 5) medical records (CH etiology, age at treatment initiation, disease severity at diagnosis, treatment quality, and thyroid function tests on the day of the examination).

In the perceptual assessment, 62.6% of the SG children passed, whereas 37.4% failed in the voice screening, but these results were comparable with those in the CG (P = 0.45). Both groups had mean/median acoustic measurements within the normal limits. The mean PVRQoL in the SG (99.3 ± 2.4) and CG (99.5 ± 1.7) were comparable (P = 1.00). Both SG (16.7%) and CG (15%) presented vocal cord lesions (P = 1.00). There was no association between voice/larynx characteristics and endocrinological data.

Prepubescent children diagnosed with CH during neonatal screening and who have a lifelong history of adequate treatment of CH showed similar vocal and laryngeal characteristics compared with children without CH.