PSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF FUNCTIONAL DYSPHONIA - AN INVESTIGATION USING THE MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY-INVENTORY

Abnormal psychological factors have been implicated in the development of functional dysphonia (FD). This investigation describes the person ality and psychological characteristics of 25 female subjects who had received the diagnosis of FD. In all subjects symptoms were resolved a fter voice therapy, While vocally asymptomatic, these remitted subject s with FD completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (M MPI), an objective personality questionnaire. When compared with a med ical outpatient control group, the results showed that subjects with F D scored significantly higher on 7 of 10 clinical scales, suggesting a n elevated degree of emotional maladjustment. A stepwise logistic disc riminant analysis identified 2 clinical scales that provided valuable discriminatory power between the two groups. Scale 1 (Hs-hypochondrias is), which measures the number and type of reported somatic complaints , and scale 7 (Pt-psychasthenia), a measure of diffuse anxiety, discri minated the groups with 88% sensitivity and 89% specificity. The resul ts suggested that in spite of symptom improvement after voice therapy, the subjects with FD continued to exhibit poor levels of adaptive fun ctioning, which may represent trait-like vulnerability. The clinical i mplications of these results for voice practitioners are discussed.