Voice Therapy for Teachers With Voice Problems

University of Pittsburgh

Status and phase

Completed

Phase 3

Conditions

Phonotrauma

Treatments

Behavioral: Casper-Based Confidential Flow Therapy

Behavioral: Lessac-Madsen Resonant Voice Therapy

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

NIH

Identifiers

NCT00222937

#0304044

Details and patient eligibility

About

The study compares two different forms of voice therapy, Lessac-Madsen Resonant Voice Therapy and Casper-Based Confidential Flow Therapy. The target population are teachers because they have the highest risk for developing voice problems. For this study the investigators are primarily interested in seeing if Lessac-Madsen Resonant Voice Therapy (LMRVT) and Casper-Based Confidential Flow Therapy (CBCFT) are equally effective at improving vocal functioning in teachers with phonotrauma, as assessed by the Voice Handicap Index (VHI).

Enrollment

105 patients

Sex

All

Ages

21+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

Full or part time teacher including college professor, daycare and preschool
21 years of age and older
Complaints of voice problems declared to be lasting continuously for one month or more
Any structural or functional change to the larynx that appears related to phonation,including bilateral or unilateral lesions (assuming normal overlying epithelium based on clinical examination), non-specific edema, or erythema that appear by clinical history related to phonation, or primary muscle tension dysphonia or other condition related to phonation without lesions
No concurrent ear, nose and/or throat diagnoses, e.g. acute allergies, except for chronic allergies, sinusitis, and laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPR)
No vocal fold hemorrhage
No known degenerative medical conditions (e.g., degenerative neuromuscular disease, malignant process undergoing treatment or with less than 5 years remission, uncontrolled systemic disease (e.g., auto immune disease, or hormonal condition)
Normal hearing to 30 dB at 1000Hz - 3000Hz in the better ear
The participant is able to start therapy within 6 weeks of the initial evaluation and can be scheduled for 8 sessions (two per visit) in a 6-week time period
Agreement by the participant to provide information regarding days missed from work during the previous year and the year following treatment

Exclusion criteria

Known degenerative medical condition
Concurrent ear-nose-throat diagnosis, e.g., acute allergies (but chronic allergies, sinusitis, and laryngopharyngeal reflux disease (LPR) are not exclusion criteria) and vocal fold hemorrhage
Degenerative medical conditions that would exclude a participant from participation include, but are not limited to: degenerative neuromuscular disease, malignant process undergoing treatment or with less than 5 years remission, uncontrolled systemic disease (e.g. auto immune disease), or hormonal condition.