Voice disorder in systemic lupus erythematosus

Abstract

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic disease characterized by progressive tissue damage. In recent decades, novel treatments have greatly extended the life span of SLE patients. This creates a high demand for identifying the overarching symptoms associated with SLE and developing therapies that improve their life quality under chronic care. We hypothesized that SLE patients would present dysphonic symptoms. Given that voice disorders can reduce life quality, identifying a potential SLE-related dysphonia could be relevant for the appraisal and management of this disease. We measured objective vocal parameters and perceived vocal quality with the GRBAS (Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain) scale in SLE patients and compared them to matched healthy controls. SLE patients also filled a questionnaire reporting perceived vocal deficits. SLE patients had significantly lower vocal intensity and harmonics to noise ratio, as well as increased jitter and shimmer. All subjective parameters of the GRBAS scale were significantly abnormal in SLE patients. Additionally, the vast majority of SLE patients (29/36) reported at least one perceived vocal deficit, with the most prevalent deficits being vocal fatigue (19/36) and hoarseness (17/36). Self-reported voice deficits were highly correlated with altered GRBAS scores. Additionally, tissue damage scores in different organ systems correlated with dysphonic symptoms, suggesting that some features of SLE-related dysphonia are due to tissue damage. Our results show that a large fraction of SLE patients suffers from perceivable dysphonia and may benefit from voice therapy in order to improve quality of life.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Voice Therapy Techniques in Treating Dysphonia: An Otolaryngological Review

“…Voice disorders can lead to heightened susceptibility to depression and anxiety disorders, increased levels of stress, and diminished self-reported indicators of health. Effective communication heavily relies on spoken language, making dysphonia a significant challenge that can profoundly impact interpersonal interactions and diminish the overall quality of life [ 4 ]. Dysphonia, a condition affecting vocalization, manifests in various acoustic forms.…”

Automatic Elicitation Compliance for Short-Duration Speech Based Depression Detection

“…Many different kinds of illnesses are often revealed during speech production via the body's complex neuro-muscular system. For decades, speech studies [1][2][3][4] have shown that poorer voice quality, intelligibility, and/or agility during speech production are key indicators of motor impairment, often the result of neurodegenerative, autoimmune, and psychogenic illnesses. To help assess the capabilities of speakers' motor-speech coordination, carefully crafted elicitation protocols have been designed.…”

Voice perturbations under the stress overload in young individuals: phenotyping and suboptimal health as predictors for cascading pathologies

“…These include but are not restricted to Sicca syndrome [ 10 ], dry mouth syndrome [ 11 ] and body dehydration [ 12 ], hormonal alterations linked to pubertal [ 13 ], menopausal [ 14 ] and andropausal [ 15 ] status and acromegaly [ 16 ], cardio-vocal syndrome [ 17 ], respiratory disorders (e.g. chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [ 18 ] and asthma [ 19 ]), gastrointestinal reflux [ 20 ], autoimmune diseases such as rheumatic arthritis [ 21 ] and Sjögren’s syndrome [ 22 ], systemic lupus erythematosus [ 23 ], amyloidosis [ 24 ], cystic fibrosis [ 25 ], endocrinologic disorders such thyroid dysfunction [ 26 , 27 ] and anorexia nervosa [ 28 – 30 ], underweight versus overweight and obesity [ 31 , 32 ], and diabetes [ 33 ]. Table 2 highlights corresponding laryngeal symptoms.…”