Abstract:
Background: Persistent inflammation of the nose and sinuses for more than 3 months is known as chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS). Relation between CRS and voice problems had been considered, however studies that highlighted the existence of dysphonia in CRS patients or the effect of sinusitis on the individual voice and the larynx are sparse.
Objective: We aimed to detect the impacts of chronic rhinosinusitis on the laryngeal mucosa and voice quality among children (6-18 years old).
Methodology: A total of 120 children aged (6-18) years old. They were divided into 2 groups: the controls (60 children) who are healthy, normal, and hadn't CRS, and the patient group (60 children) who met the CRS criteria. All children were evaluated by using the protocol of voice evaluation in Phoniatric Unit in Assiut university Hospital including auditory perceptual assessment of voice, flexible fiberoptic laryngoscope for visual assessment of vocal tract and multidimensional voice profile for acoustic analysis.
Results: The most frequent presentations in CRS patient were chronic nasal obstruction and phonasthenic manifestations. There were statistically significant variations between both groups regarding auditory perceptual assessment, laryngeal findings and acoustic parameters. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between chronic rhinosinusitis severity and increasing grade of dysphonia.
Conclusion: Chronic rhinosinusitis has impacts on auditory perception assessment of voice, laryngeal findings and some acoustic parameters such as fundamental frequency, soft phonation index and harmonic to noise ratio. Increasing severity of chronic rhinosinusitis correlated with progression of dysphonia. CRS is considered a risk element for development of dysphonia.