Smoking, carcinophobia and Voice Handicap Index.

OBJECTIVE: This study focuses on the relation of smoking, carcinophobia and voice handicap in dysphonic patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty-four German-speaking outpatient voice clinic attendees suffering from dysphonia of benign origin took part in this study. All patients completed the German version of the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and were asked about their fear of suffering from laryngeal cancer without prior information about their diagnosis.

RESULTS: Smokers did not fear to suffer from laryngeal cancer more than nonsmokers. However, former smokers were slightly more often found to be carcinophobic than nonsmokers. There was neither a significant difference in VHI scores comparing smokers to non- and former smokers nor when comparing carcinophobic to noncarcinophobic patients.

CONCLUSION: Smoking may cause laryngeal cancer and influence the voice but does not affect patients' handicap due to dysphonia as measured by the VHI. Smoking habits do not influence the development of carcinophobia and carcinophobic dysphonic patients do not experience their voice problem differently than dysphonic patients without cancerophobia as measured by the VHI.