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Abdul-Latif Hamdan, MD; Abla Sibai, PhD; Marwan Youssef, MD; Reem Deeb, DM; Fares Zaitoun, MD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2006;132:547-549.

Objectives  To report the incidence of allergic rhinitis in singers with nonspecific laryngeal examination findings and to correlate the incidence of allergic rhinitis with their vocal symptoms when present.

Design  A retrospective review of all the medical records of singers with nonspecific laryngeal findings who presented to a specialty voice center for either vocal training or therapy between June 2002 and September 2005.

Setting  Specialty voice center.

Participants  Forty-five singers with nonspecific laryngeal findings who presented to a specialty voice center for either vocal training or therapy.

Main Outcome Measures  A standardized validated questionnaire for evaluation of allergic rhinitis was filled out by all the subjects. A score above 0 was considered positive.

Results  The total prevalence of allergic rhinitis was 87% (39 of 45 subjects). The singers with vocal symptoms were approximately 15% more likely to have allergic rhinitis than those with no vocal symptoms (92% vs 84%). Singers with more than 2 vocal symptoms had a 25% higher likelihood of having allergic rhinitis.

Conclusions  The incidence of allergic rhinitis in singers is extremely high. Hidden respiratory allergies may affect the professional voice. Proper awareness and a multidisciplinary approach are indispensable for proper diagnosis and treatment.

Author Affiliations: Departments of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (Drs Hamdan and Youssef) and Internal Medicine (Dr Zaitoun), American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon; and Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences (Dr Sibai), and Department of Civilization Sequence, School of Arts and Sciences (Dr Deeb), American University of Beirut.

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