Participant anxiety and presence of hyperfunction in stroboscopy.

Objective: Excessive supraglottic and abnormal fine vibratory characteristics associated with vocal hyperfunction are identified even in individuals with normal laryngeal structure, function and vocal quality when they undergo stroboscopy, possibly due to anxiety. The purpose of this study is to (a) test for vocal hyperfunction in individuals with normal laryngeal structure and function and if present, (b) to track changes in vocal hyperfunction associated with anxiety when stroboscopy is repeated within 24-48 h.

Participants And Methods: Thirty participants, naïve to stroboscopy, underwent the procedure and completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory 3 times over 24-48 h.

Results: 41.4% of participants demonstrated vocal hyperfunction in supraglottic and fine vibratory characteristics after the first trial. Vocal hyperfunction decreased to 27.6% after the third trial. RESULTS showed a significant main effect of time indicating that vocal hyperfunction decreased as participants repeated stroboscopy. Although the average anxiety score decreased across trials, state (anxiety) had no significant effect on change in vocal hyperfunction.

Conclusions: In the real world, true representation of vocal function can be achieved by getting a patient acquainted to the presence of strobe in the oral cavity and practice the tasks that will be attempted during the procedure without introducing vocal hyperfunction and most importantly, without the use of a topical anesthetic.