Objectives. Personality traits and levels of psychological distress were studied in male and female patients with dysphonia. The contributions of medical referral and dysphonia were examined. Design.A matched groups design with three control groups was used.Methods. Seventy people with dysphonia, 90 people attending an otolaryngology clinic, 59 people attending general practice clinics, and 5 1 healthy people acted as participants. Each completed questionnaires of personality traits, alexithymia, healthrelated coping strategies, mood (normal and pathological) and the past experience of medically unexplained symptoms.Results. Women with dysphonia reported more psychological distress (anxiety and depression) and more previously unexplained medical symptoms than either healthy or general practice controls. Men with dysphonia exceeded only healthy controls on these factors. Personality and coping factors in men and women with dysphonia were largely unremarkable, an exception being that women with dysphonia tended to have higher neuroticism scores than general practice attendees.Conclusions. Dysphonia is associated with psychological distress and a past history of experiencing unexplained medical symptoms. However, these characteristics are shared by general otolaryngology patients. This multiple control group study suggests that the problems of psychological distress may affect medical out-patients in general. Studies of laryngologica, 113, 428-434. toxin treatment.

Carbon surfaces (glassy carbon, graphite, and boron-doped diamond) were functionalized with layers composed of linked pyridinium and pyridine moieties using simple electrochemical reduction of trifluoroacetylpyridinium. The pyridinium species was generated in situ in solution by the reaction of trifluoroacetic anhydride and pyridine precursors and underwent electrochemical reduction at −1.97 V vs Fc/Fc+, as determined by cyclic voltammetry. The pyridine/pyridinium films were electrodeposited at room temperature, on a timescale of minutes, and were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The as-prepared films have a net positive charge in aqueous solution at pH 9 and below due to the pyridinium content, confirmed by the electrochemical response of differently charged redox molecules at the functionalized surfaces. The positive charge can be enhanced further through protonation of the neutral pyridine component by controlling the solution pH. Moreover, the nitrogen–acetyl bond can be cleaved through base treatment to purposefully increase the neutral pyridine proportion of the film. This results in a surface that can be “switched” from functionally near neutral to a positive charge by treatment in basic and acidic solutions, respectively, through manipulation of the protonation state of the pyridine. The functionalization process demonstrated here is readily achievable at a fast timescale at room temperature and hence can allow for rapid screening of surface properties. Such functionalized surfaces present a means to test in isolation the specific catalytic performance of pyridinic groups toward key processes such as oxygen and CO2 reduction.