Analysis of functional voice disorders at an interdisciplinary voice clinic

The study addresses this gap by describing the incidence and nature of FVDs in adults attending an interdisciplinary voice clinic in Pretoria, South Africa. The data was obtained from the interdisciplinary Voice Clinic’s database of patient records. A retrospective quantitative research design was employed. The data was sourced from a voice clinic's secure medical database. Patients over eighteen years with confirmed FVDs diagnosed between January 2017 and July 2022 were included. The data was analysed using Statistic Package Social Sciences version 28 (SPSS). The extracted data was used to determine the incidence and nature of FVDs. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used. In the analysis, the Mann-Whitney test was employed to assess potential differences between Occupational Voice Users (OVUs) and non Occupational Voice Users. 

The statistic was utilized for comparisons and for interpretation to understand potential significant differences between OVUs and non-OVUs in relation to p values. A retrospective quantitative study design was utilised to describe the incidence and nature of FVDs at an interdisciplinary voice clinic in SA. Of the total 516 patients with voice disorders seen between January 2017 and July 2022, 16.67% had FVDs, with muscle tension dysphonia being the most prevalent primary diagnosis. The most common secondary diagnosis was laryngeal pharyngeal reflux (39.5%). Patients with FVDs presented with a variety of signs and symptoms, with hoarseness being the most common. No significant differences were found between occupational voice users and non-occupational voice users.