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Prevalence of vocal tract discomfort in patients with voice disorders
Saffa Nawaz1, Nameeka Shahid2, Nazia Mumtaz3
1Department of Speech Language Pathology, Riphah International University, Islamabad.
Objective:
To analyse the prevalence of vocal tract discomfort in patients with voice disorders.
Methods:
The analytical cross-sectional study was conducted at Riphah International University, Lahore, Pakistan, from September 2020 to January 2021, and comprised voice disorder patients of either gender aged 18-65 years enrolled from Mayo Hospital, Sheikh Zayed Hospital and Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. The Vocal Tract Discomfort Scale was used for data-collection. Data was analysed using SPSS 21.
Results:
Of the 137 patients, 68(49.6%) were males and 69(50.4%) were females. The overall mean age was 36.36±12.47 years. The most affected age group was 18-33 years 70(51.1%) while those aged 50-65 years were the least affected 28(20.4%). The most common VTD symptom was dryness with mean frequency 3.48±1.97 and mean severity 3.36±1.99, followed by irritation 2.88±2.08 and 2.88±2.12, and lump in the throat 2.42±2.27 and 2.31±2.23, respectively.
Conclusions:
Dryness, irritation and a lump in the throat were the most common symptoms of vocal tract discomfort.
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