Laryngeal dysfunction is prominent in asthmatic women treated by inhaled corticosteroids

Background Dysphonia is a frequent comorbidity of asthma and has been suggested to be a local side effect of inhaled corticosteroids due to laryngeal candidiasis. We hypothesized that dysphonia in asthmatics was not due to laryngeal organic lesions but to laryngeal dysfunction during phonation (LDP). Objective We compared the frequency of LDP in female asthmatic patients treated with inhaled corticosteroids to female controls. Methods We compared 68 asthmatic female patients to 53 female control subjects. Pulmonary function tests were performed and the asthmatic patients classified according to the level of inhaled corticosteroids. Dysphonia was defined as a Vocal Handicap Index ≥18 or GRBAS score ≥2. All patients underwent video laryngo‐strobe examination, analyzed blindly and separately by two otolaryngologists, describing mucosal changes, LDP, or Organic lesions linked to Laryngeal Dysfunction during Phonation (OLDP). Results 66.2% of the asthmatic patients exhibited dysphonia and 11.3% of controls (p