Neuromuscular Rehabilitation Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
Neuromuscular Rehabilitation Research Center, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran.
J Voice. 2024 Mar;38(2):542.e29-542.e33. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2021.09.039. Epub 2021 Oct 13.
Dysphonia and laryngeal problems are some of the manifestations of the COVID-19 pandemic due to respiratory disease as a primary effect of COVID-19. The aim of the present study was to investigate voice quality and vocal tract discomfort symptoms in patients with COVID-19.
Forty-four COVID-19 patients with a mean age of 49.61 ± 16.48 years and 44 healthy subjects with a mean age of 48.52 ± 13.8 years participated in the study. The voice quality of the participants was evaluated using auditory-perceptual evaluation with the Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain (GRBAS) scale. The vocal tract discomfort symptoms of the participants were assessed using the Persian version of the VTD scale.
Patients with COVID-19 had higher scores in all items of the GRBAS, including grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, and strain, than healthy subjects, and these differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Among the GRBAS parameters, grade had the highest effect size and asthenia had the lowest effect size in both speech tasks. The COVID-19 patients had a greater frequency of vocal tract discomfort symptoms than healthy subjects in all items of the VTDp scale and these differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05) in the following items: burning, tight, dry, pain, sore, irritable, and lump in the throat. The most and the least effect size in frequency of the vocal tract discomfort symptoms were related to dry (d = 1.502) and tickling (d = 0.157), respectively. Also, COVID-19 patients had more significant severity in all items of the VTDp scale except tight and tickling. The most and the least effect size in severity of the vocal tract discomfort symptoms was related to dry (d = 1.416) and tickling (d = 0.152), respectively.
The present study suggests that COVID-19 patients have more deviations in voice quality than healthy subjects. Moreover, mild vocal tract discomfort is prevalent in patients with COVID-19, and patients have more frequent and severe physical discomforts of the vocal tract than healthy subjects.
由于 COVID-19 作为一种主要的呼吸道疾病，导致了发音困难和喉部问题，这是 COVID-19 大流行的一些表现。本研究旨在探讨 COVID-19 患者的嗓音质量和声道不适症状。
44 名 COVID-19 患者，平均年龄为 49.61 ± 16.48 岁，44 名健康对照者，平均年龄为 48.52 ± 13.8 岁。使用 GRBAS 量表对参与者的嗓音质量进行听觉感知评估。使用 Persian 版本的 VTD 量表评估参与者的声道不适症状。
COVID-19 患者在 GRBAS 的所有项目中的得分均高于健康对照组，包括等级、粗糙度、呼吸声、无力和紧张度，且差异具有统计学意义（P < 0.05）。在 GRBAS 参数中，等级在两种语音任务中的效应量最大，无力的效应量最小。COVID-19 患者在 VTDp 量表的所有项目中出现声道不适症状的频率均高于健康对照组，且差异具有统计学意义（P < 0.05），以下项目差异有统计学意义：烧灼感、紧绷感、干燥感、疼痛、喉咙痛、刺痛感、易激惹和喉咙有异物感。声道不适症状出现频率的最大和最小效应量分别与干燥（d = 1.502）和瘙痒（d = 0.157）有关。此外，COVID-19 患者在 VTDp 量表的所有项目中除了紧绷感和瘙痒感外，严重程度的差异均具有统计学意义。声道不适症状严重程度的最大和最小效应量分别与干燥（d = 1.416）和瘙痒（d = 0.152）有关。
本研究表明，COVID-19 患者的嗓音质量比健康对照组更差。此外，轻度的声道不适在 COVID-19 患者中很常见，与健康对照组相比，患者的声道物理不适更频繁且更严重。
