Psychological profiles of patients with laryngeal contact granulomas

Abstract

The association between laryngeal contact granuloma and demographic/psychological variables was examined by using a psychosomatic approach to health research. A stepwise procedure of logistic regression analyses was utilized to get a final multivariate model of variables associated with the clinical finding of a laryngeal contact granuloma. The subjects consisted of 47 patients with contact granulomas and 110 patients with voice disorders due to other causes. Our analysis of 22 variables uncovered the following statistically significant factors for developing a contact granuloma: male gender (P = 0.0001), low achievement orientation (P = 0.0007), fear of physical lesions (P = 0.0038), impulsiveness (P = 0.0016), age > 60 years (P = 0.0012), low extraversion (P = 0.004), high achievement orientation (P = 0.0079), fear of appearing in public (P = 0.0216) and strain (P = 0.03). These results show that a variety of variables are important for predicting the development of a laryngeal contact granuloma. The usefulness of this set of risk variables for predicting a contact granuloma remains to be proved in a prospective study. It is possible that not only the nature but the number of risk factors are the prime determinants of outcome.