Effects of smoking on pulmonary function and vocal handicap in Hispanics

Throughout the years, extensive research has highly correlated smoking with decreased pulmonary function. While pulmonary function has been widely researched in Caucasian and African-American smokers and non-smokers, reported pulmonary function measures among the Hispanic population have been insufficient and inconsistent. The purpose of this study was to measure, describe, and compare pulmonary function in Hispanic adult smokers to non-smoking Hispanic adults. In addition, this study described participants' voice perception in order to examine the effects of smoking and related pulmonary function on perceived vocal handicap. Twenty volunteers participated in this study: ten participants (5 females and 5 males) with a positive smoking history for at least the past year; and, ten participants (5 females, 5 males) with no history of smoking. Each participant completed pulmonary function testing of spirometry and manometry which yielded measures of forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1), maximum expiratory pressure (MEP), and maximum inspiratory pressure (MW). Participants were also given two brief general health questionnaires, and were asked to rate functional, physical, and emotional aspects of their voice using the Voice Handicap Index (VI-II), a 30-item self-perception survey of vocal health. Results from this study reported respiratory function and voice ratings for non-smoking Hispanic adults and for Hispanic adult smokers in the San Antonio metropolitan area. This information yields important insight into clinical implications of pulmonary function testing in the field of communication disorders, and adds to the literature base of normative and disordered pulmonary values for Hispanic adults and related vocal handicap.