University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, 1121 NW 14th Street, 3rd Floor, Miami, FL 33136, USA.
Ear, Nose, Throat and Plastic Surgery Associates, University of Central Florida, HPA II-101, 4364 Scorpius Drive, Orlando, FL 32816-2215, USA.
Biomed Res Int. 2017;2017:3918214. doi: 10.1155/2017/3918214. Epub 2017 Sep 19.
This study examines the relationship between laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) symptoms and oropharyngeal pH levels in singers. We hypothesized that reported symptoms would correlate with objective measures of pH levels from the oropharynx, including the number and total duration of reflux episodes. Twenty professional/semiprofessional singers completed the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) and underwent oropharyngeal pH monitoring. Mild, moderate, or severe pH exposure was recorded during oropharyngeal pH monitoring. Correlations were performed to examine potential relationships between reflux symptoms and duration of LPR episodes. Symptom severity did not correlate with pH levels; however, we found a number of covariances of interest. Large sample sizes are necessary to determine if true correlations exist. Our results suggest that singers may exhibit enhanced sensitivity to LPR and may therefore manifest symptoms, even in response to subtle changes in pH. This study emphasizes the importance of sensitive and objective measures of reflux severity as well as consideration of the cumulative time of reflux exposure in addition to the number of reflux episodes.
本研究探讨了喉咽反流（LPR）症状与歌手的口咽 pH 值之间的关系。我们假设报告的症状与 pH 值的客观测量值（包括反流事件的数量和总持续时间）相关。20 名专业/半专业歌手完成了反流症状指数（RSI）并接受了口咽 pH 值监测。在口咽 pH 值监测期间记录了轻度、中度或重度 pH 暴露。进行相关性分析以检查反流症状与 LPR 发作持续时间之间的潜在关系。症状严重程度与 pH 值无关；然而，我们发现了一些有趣的协变量。需要大样本量来确定是否存在真正的相关性。我们的结果表明，歌手可能对 LPR 表现出更高的敏感性，因此即使 pH 值发生细微变化，也可能出现症状。这项研究强调了敏感和客观的反流严重程度测量的重要性，以及除了反流事件的数量外，还应考虑反流暴露的累积时间。
