Medizinische Universität Graz Austria/Österreich - Forschungsportal - Medical University of Graz
Gewählte Publikation:
Brunner, E.
Gender aspects in phoniatrics: A study on the gender distribution of benign vocal fold lesions
Doktoratsstudium der Medizinischen Wissenschaft; Humanmedizin; [ Dissertation ] Medizinische Universität Graz; 2025. pp.
- Autor*innen der Med Uni Graz:
- Betreuer*innen:
- Friedrich Gerhard
- Gugatschka Markus
- Altmetrics:
- Abstract:
- In today`s communication society, the human voice is of great importance in both professional and private life. Voice overload and vocal misuse can lead to structural changes of the vocal folds (VF) and thus to hoarseness and limited capacity of the voice. These benign VF lesions occur in various forms. In the thesis on hand, five typical lesion types are compared regarding their incidence, their age- and gender dependency and the VF side affected: VF nodules, polyp, cyst, granuloma and Reinke´s edema. In a retrospective cohort study, the data of all patients who had visited the Division of Phoniatrics of the ENT University Hospital Graz over a period of 13 years due to voice complaints and had been diagnosed with one of the five selected lesion types were recorded. Based on video-documented laryngoscopies, a detailed review process was conducted according to strictly defined criteria. Subsequently, the included data was subjected to statistical analysis. The study included 535 lesions, with both genders affected equally often. However, while the included female patients were diagnosed with VF nodules and Reinke’s edema in one third each, more than half of the male patients were affected by VF polyps. The majority of the patients were of working age, while only a third of the diagnoses concerned children, adolescents or elderly. Each of the lesion types examined showed a significant association with gender, and with the exception of VF cysts, all diagnoses were also significantly related to age. Among the unilateral lesions, the right and left VF were affected equally often overall, but the distribution of the affected side was found to be gender-related. A comparison of the results with previous studies was complicated by the fact that nomenclature, definition and classification framework of benign VF lesions are still handled inconsistently today. In particular, different perspectives on these structural alterations (endoscopic, operative, histological) lead to sometimes contradictory results. Further research is needed here, but the results of the present study also have practical impact. As people of all genders and ages can be affected by secondary organic dysphonia, voice prophylactic measures are to be demanded for all populations.