Voice Evaluation in Patients with Hyperthyroidism

1Phoniatric Unit, ORL Department, 2Department of Public Health & Community Medicine 4Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, 3Department of Clinical Pathology , Students Hospital, Mansoura University, Egypt. ABSTRACT Background: Several studies reported voice changes in patients with thyroid disorders. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the voice characteristics of a group of patients with hyperthyroidism. Patients and Methods: Twenty-one patients with clinical hyperthyroidism and Twenty-one healthy volunteers in the age range 24-55 years were subjected to voice assessment using both subjective (auditory perceptual assessment) and objective tools (acoustic and aerodynamic analyses). Results: Despite the absence of perceptual voice changes in our patients with hyperthyroidism, subtle changes in the acoustic and aerodynamic parameters could be detected with a trend towards laryngeal dysfunction. Maximum phonation time and Harmonic/Noise ratio were significantly lower, and shimmer was significantly higher in hyperthyroid patients when compared to the reference group. Pitch and jitter were also higher in hyperthyroid patients, but the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: These findings provide evidence that elevated levels of thyroid hormones potentially affect the phonatory function of the vocal folds.