Faculty Collaboration Database

Dysphonia in nursing home and assisted living residents: prevalence and association with frailty. J Voice 2015 Jan;29(1):79-82

Date

12/17/2014

Pubmed ID

25499517

Pubmed Central ID

PMC4293267

DOI

10.1016/j.jvoice.2014.06.006

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-84920587578 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   15 Citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Previous studies of geriatric dysphonia prevalence have been limited to ambulatory outpatient and senior communities. Our goal was to identify prevalence of dysphonia in nursing home residents and assisted living residents and search for correlations between indices of dysphonia and indices of frailty.

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective epidemiological survey.

METHODS: Residents of a vertically integrated senior care organization who were 65 or older and able to understand and complete the questionnaire were recruited to complete the voice handicap index 10 (VHI-10) to assess for dysphonia (VHI-10 > 10 = dysphonia) and Vulnerable Elders Survey 13 (VES-13), a validated instrument to assess for frailty (VES > 3 = frailty).

RESULTS: A total of 119 residents were surveyed. Thirty-three percent of nursing home residents, and 25% of assisted living residents reported dysphonia with 29% of all respondents reporting dysphonia. The mean VHI-10 was 7.4, the median was 5, and the interquartile range was 2-12.5. There was a significant relationship between VHI-10 and VES-13 score (P = 0.029). There were no statistically significant relationships between frailty, age, or type of living and dysphonia or VHI-10.

CONCLUSION: There is a high prevalence of voice dysfunction in assisted living and nursing home residents. The correlation between VHI-10 and VES-13 suggests that voice declines as frailty increases.

Author List

G Nichols B, Varadarajan V, Bock JM, Blumin JH

Authors

Joel H. Blumin MD Chief, Professor in the Otolaryngology department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Jonathan Bock MD Professor in the Otolaryngology department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Dysphonia
Frail Elderly
Homes for the Aged
Humans
Nursing Homes
Prevalence
Wisconsin