Individuals with hypernasality are at increased risk for which issue?

Individuals with hypernasality have excessive nasal resonance during speech, which can significantly affect the clarity and quality of their vocal output. This condition can lead to a mismatch between how speech sounds are produced and how they are perceived by listeners, potentially resulting in hoarseness.

Hoarseness often occurs when vocal cords are not functioning optimally, which can happen when there's strain or misuse of the voice due to compensatory behaviors developed in response to speech difficulties. For example, to counterbalance hypernasality, individuals may alter their vocal quality by tightening their vocal cords, leading to fatigue and hoarseness. This adaptation in voice production can create a strain that affects the vocal folds, contributing to an irregular voice quality characterized by hoarseness.

In contrast, while strained vocal cords and loudness variation may also be associated with voice issues, they are not directly linked to hypernasality. Similarly, intelligibility generally refers to how well speech can be understood, which can indeed be impacted by hypernasality but is not the primary concern that hypernasality raises in many clinical contexts. Therefore, the primary issue that individuals with hypernasality are at increased risk for is hoarseness, as it directly relates to the voice quality affected by the condition.