Nonorganic Habitual Dysphonia and Autonomic Dysfunction

The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that there is a relation between nonorganic habitual dysphonia and subjective experience of dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system (neurovegetative lability). Eighty-three patients (65 women and 18 men) with a nonorganic voice disorder and a matched control group answered a questionnaire of 46 questions. One question replicated in different terms and six nonrelevant questions point out that the inquiry forms were answered in a consistent way. It appears that female patients in all age categories with a nonorganic habitual dysphonia report significantly more autonomic symptoms and complaints than healthy controls. This hypothesis cannot be confirmed for the male subgroup.