Handicap, vocal complaints and maximum phonation time in women smokers

Abstract

Objective: verify the presence of vocal complaints, voice handicap and maximum phonation time in a group of smoking and non smoking women. Methods: observational, analytical and cross study, whose sample consisted of 72 female subjects, aged between 19 and 44 years, who were divided into Group Search - 36 smoking women, and Control Group - 36 non smoking women. The groups were similar regarding age. All subjects completed a questionnaire containing data of identification and smoking history, presence or absence of vocal complaints, and self-assessment protocol of Voice Handicap Index (VHI). Moreover, passed by the extraction of maximum phonation time (MPT) of vowels. Results: There is a relationship between the presence of vocal complaints and VHI scores for smoking individuals in functional, physical, emotional and total domains. It was also seen that there is a relationship between the vocal complaints of vowels and MPT. Conclusion: adult smoking women, healthy and not using their voice professionally do not refer vocal disadvantage in their day-to-day and present maximum phonation times similar to those presented by non smoking women of the same age. These findings do not depend on the time of smoking and average number of cigarettes smoked per day. Nevertheless, health promotion campaigns should be intensified with this population