Prevalence of Obesity in Patients with Dysphonia

To investigate the prevalence of obesity in patients with dysphonia and the association between Body Mass Index (BMI) and the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10).

This is a retrospective study that included 304 patients who visited the senior author's Otolaryngology practice between the years 2018 and 2020. Patients were divided into two groups, those presenting for dysphonia and those presenting for other otolaryngologic complaints (Controls). Patients were also stratified as Normal weight (BMI < 25 kg/m2) vs. Overweight (BMI between 25-30 kg/m2), vs. Obese (BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2). The VHI-10 was used as a subjective outcome measure reported by patients with dysphonia.

A total of 304 patients included in this study, 203 presenting with dysphonia and 101 with other otolaryngologic complaint. Within the dysphonia group, a significantly higher percentage of patients had a BMI ≥ 25 (70.4%) as compared to the control group (57.4%). The odds ratio were 1.76, meaning that obese patients were 1.76 times more likely to present with dysphonia. There was a weak negative correlation between overweight, obesity, and VHI-10 scores (r=-0.007 and r=-0.039, respectively).

There was a significantly higher prevalence of overweight and obesity in patients with dysphonia vs. patients with no dysphonia. Although there was a weak correlation between BMI and VHI, our results demonstrate that overweight and obese patients are more likely to have dysphonia.