The psychiatric and social characteristics of patients with functional dysphonia

Of 121 consecutive outpatients seen in an ENT clinic who received a diagnosis of functional dysphonia, 71 who were referred to the speech therapy department were interviewed. Sixty one (86%) were women, and the mean age of the group was 47.6 yr. The commonest voice disorder was huskiness or hoarseness, and only five patients had a pure 'whispering' dysphonia. There was little evidence of major psychiatric disorder in the group: eight patients had a past psychiatric history; two had histrionic personality disorder, and 22 (33%) had clinically diagnosable mood disorders which were mainly anxiety/tension states. This descriptive study formed the background for an investigation of the psychosocial stressors preceding onset of functional dysphonia.