Effect of caffeine on the vocal folds: a pilot study

Abstract

Caffeine is considered to be a dehydrating agent with detrimental effects on the quality of voice of persons ingesting it. This has led medical personnel dealing with voice disorders, especially in the case of professional voice users, to give advice against the use of caffeine. Yet this is an anecdotal truth as an extensive Medline literature search did not reveal any scientific evidence of caffeine being proven to have adverse effects on the vocal folds. We, therefore, initiated this pilot study to ascertain the connection between caffeine and voice quality on a laboratory basis. Two hundred and fifty mg of caffeine were provided to eight volunteers in tablet form, and blood levels along with laryngograph readings were recorded to document the changes produced. Analysing the irregularities of frequencies in a) free speech b) a reading passage and c) singing ‘Happy Birthday’, substantial changes were seen to authenticate the fact that caffeine does produce alterations in voice quality but these alterations have considerable intrasubject variability. A full study with wider parameters is to be performed on this subject as we consider it to be of importance in the management of voice disorders.

Investigating the Effects of Caffeine on Phonation

“…1,21,22 To the best of our knowledge, only one pilot investigation has examined the effects of caffeine consumption (250 mg caffeine tablets) on voice. 5 The results of this pilot investigation were nonsignificant, but no definite conclusions could be drawn secondary to small sample size and the lack of the following: double blinding, within-subject controls, and temporal controls. The present study incorporated a double-blinded, sham-controlled, repeated-measures design, where each participant consumed both caffeinated and sham beverages in counterbalanced order, on different days, to investigate whether caffeine consumption is detrimental to voice production.…”

“…13 This diuretic action of caffeine is presumed to induce systemic dehydration. 2,5 Given that systemic dehydration negatively affects voice production, 4,9 voice clinicians strongly caution against excessive caffeine use. 1,21,22 To the best of our knowledge, only one pilot investigation has examined the effects of caffeine consumption (250 mg caffeine tablets) on voice.…”

Voice Care Knowledge Among Clinicians and People With Healthy Voices or Dysphonia

“…6,18,25,36 Validation of the voice care knowledge questionnaire A total of 280 ratings (10 raters 3 28 items) were made by the clinicians. The mean score across the 10 specialist clinicians was calculated for each factor.…”

Consistency of Voice Frequency and Perturbation Measures in Children Using Cepstral Analyses

“…14, [18][19][20] Frequency-based acoustic measurements have been studied in adult population with dysphonia and those without voice or speech disorders. Analysis allows for identification of a cepstral peak (CP), which occurs at the dominant F 0 .…”