THE EFFECT OF LARYNGOPHARYNGEAL REFLUX ON ACOUSTIC PARAMETERS IN FUNCTIONAL DYSPHONIA PATIENTS

Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is a very common disorder and it's objective effects over voice are controversial. In this study, to find out objective measures, the effects of LPR on acoustic parameters in functional dysphonia (FD) patients was investigated. 129 patients, aged between 14 and 88 years of which 71 were females and 58 were males. 81 patients had functional dysphonia (mean age 46), and 48 patients (mean age 51) had functional dysphonia as well as LPR. All data were obtained at the time of the initial examination. The laryngeal changes related with LPR were evaluated according to the Reflux Finding Score. Furthermore, acoustic analysis [Jitter, shimmer, Disphonia Severity Index (DSH), Noise to Harmonics ratio (NHR) and (F0)], auditive analysis [Roughness, breathiness, and hoarseness], voice range profile and voice intensity were selected as parameters for investigation in this study. Firstly, results show that the impact of LPR is significantly lower for male patients than for female patients. Secondly, maxdB was significantly higher for LPR patients. It decreases significantly with age for non-LPR patients and this decrease with age is even stronger for LPR patients. The percentage of jitter and schimmer increased significantly with age. Furthermore, DSH is significantly lower for males than it is for females. For all other dependent variables, age, LPR, and gender did not play a significantly role. Thus, for FD patients with LPR condition, we highly recommend that LPR treatment should be part of the treatment plan.