Vocal cord dysfunction diagnosis may be improved by a screening questionnaire

Method A prospective observational study involving 80 patients aged ≥ 18 years, diagnosed with severe asthma. After anamnesis, physical examination, and application of a questionnaire with 6 questions to identify vocal cord dysfunction. Then patients underwent spirometry and laryngoscopy. On the basis of the laryngoscopic findings, we created three patient groups: vocal cord dysfunction (vocal cord adduction during inspiration, n=14); unconfirmed vocal cord dysfunction (inconclusive findings, n=29); and control (normal findings, n=37). We attempted to determine whether any of those groups were associated with the responses to individual questions or sets of questions on the questionnaire.