Hoarseness in adult Nigerians: a University College Hospital Ibadan experience

Abstract

Background: Hoarseness is a major symptom of laryngeal disease. Persistent hoarseness may be an early warning of such sinister lesions as cancer of the larynx and nasopharynx, hence the need for increased awareness of this symptom and its causes.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of all hoarse adult patients seen in the Otorhinolaryngology clinics of the University College Hospital Ibadan over an 8-year period (1995-2002).

Results: The total study population of 124 patients consisted of 72 (58.06%) males and 52 (41.94%) females with an overall mean age of 46.98 years and age range 16-84 years. The mean duration of hoarseness before presentation was 23.29 months; 56 (45.2%) patients presented within 6 months of onset of hoarseness. Chronic non-specific laryngitis including vocal cord nodules was the most common cause of hoarseness (55.6%). Chronic non-specific laryngitis patients had a mean age of 45.05 years. Fourteen point forty-nine percent (14.49%) of patients with chronic non-specific laryngitis smoked cigarette and drank alcohol, 60.88% were professional voice users. The other causes of hoarseness included laryngeal cancer (24.2%), recurrent laryngeal nerve palsy (8.1%) and laryngeal papilloma (6.5%). The patients with laryngeal cancer had a mean age of 57.63 years. The two male patients with laryngeal tuberculosis were all secondary to pulmonary phthisis.

Conclusion: The causes of hoarseness are varied and late presentation may worsen the prognosis. Persistent hoarseness of more than three weeks should have detailed Otolaryngological evaluation.