OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE VOICE EVALUATION IN COVID 19 PATIENTS AND PROGNOSTIC FACTORS AFFECTING THE VOICE

Background:: Coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19], a respiratory and systemic zoonosis form caused by virus belonging to the Coronaviridae family allegedly originating from the town of Wuhan in China, still spreads and causes viral pandemics globally. Although several studies have shown the otolaryngology symptoms and whether the otolaryngology organs are affected in COVID-19 patients, the number of studies regarding the COVID-19 disease effects on voice is limited. Our study aims to evaluate the effect of COVID-19 infection on voice objectively with the voice analysis program Praat and subjectively with a 4-point questionnaire and compare it with the control group. Methods: 50 hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infection and 50 healthy individuals without COVID-19 infection as the control group were included in the study. All subjects were trained to vocalize a continuous/a/ vocal pattern at speech sound intensity for Maximum Phonation Time. Voice samples were recorded using a Sony [ICD-PX470] audio recorder and evaluated by the Praat program. Dysphonia grades were ranked on 4-point scales. Results: It is seen from the results that, there were significant differences between the male and female participants in acoustic parameters of fundamental frequency [F0] [p0.05]. The degree of thoracic CT involvement had no significant effect on parameters [p>0.05], while there was a weak positive relationship between the duration of hospitalization and F0 [rs=0.397, p=0.004]. Dysphonia was positively associated with health status [rs=0. 682, p

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