View clinical trials related to Muscle Tension Dysphonia.
Filter by:The goal of this study is to evaluate if using evidence-based, standard ingredient and target codes from the Rehabilitation Treatment Specification System - Voice Therapy (RTSS-Voice) in standard of care voice therapy documentation can improve outcomes for patients with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD). The main question it aims to answer is: Since the RTSS-Voice will help clinicians think about their treatment more specifically and in relation to nine evidence-based therapies, will its adoption be associated with improved outcomes? Clinicians across five voice centers will be asked to use the RTSS-Voice to document their voice therapy sessions for patients with MTD. Researchers will compare changes in outcomes between two groups of patients: those treated during the clinician's first year using the RTSS-Voice versus those treated during the clinician's second year using the RTSS-Voice.
Vocal hyperfunction (VH) is the most commonly treated class of voice disorders by speech-language pathologists and voice therapy is the primary curative treatment. Patients and clinicians report that generalizing improved voicing into daily life is the most significant barrier to successful therapy. We will test if extending biofeedback into the patient's daily life using ambulatory voice monitoring will significantly improve generalization during therapy and if individual patient factors, like how easily they can modify their voice and engagement during therapy, moderate the effects of the biofeedback.
The purposes of the proposed study are: a) to determine whether Flow Phonation can decrease Laryngeal Resistance (Rlaw) in patients with Muscle Tension Dysphonia (MTD); and b)establish the relationship between changes in measures of Rlaw and phonatory airflow to endoscopic, perceptual, acoustic, and handicap assessment ratings. MTD can have a debilitating effect on individuals who rely on their voices the most—teachers, preachers,salespeople, singers—costing them time, money, and even their jobs. It can lead to vocal fatigue, pain, and complete loss of voice. While treatments have emerged with some promising effects, no treatments have proven to have long-term benefits to all patients. Our preliminary data demonstrate Flow Phonation training resulted in significant decreases in Laryngeal Resistance to phonatory airflow with associated improvements in voice quality and voice handicap ratings. Sample size for our pilot study was small; no control group was utilized; and outcome measures were limited. In the proposed investigation, a larger sample will be obtained, a control group of participants receiving only Vocal Hygiene Training will be used for comparison during the first 3 weeks, and a wider range of outcome measures will be included over a longer period of time (1 year).