View clinical trials related to Voice Disorder.
Filter by:The larynx and vocal folds undergo many age-related changes in their physiology and structure that can lead to undesirable effects on the voice, with changes in the respiratory system compounding these deficits. These changes, also called presbyphonia, can have serious detrimental effects on the lives of elderly individuals. There are few studies that have evaluated the use of voice therapy treatment options for these patients. The primary aim of this study is to test whether the addition of expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) to a current, validated voice therapy protocol aimed at treating presbyphonia, (phonation resistance training, PhoRTE) can improve outcomes of therapy.
The proposed series addresses the prevention and treatment of voice problems in teachers. Data in the literature clearly identify voice disorders as teachers' primary occupational risk not only in the U.S. but also internationally. Moreover, voice problems constitute a global women's health concern. Until recently, few reports have been available around the treatment of these problems in teachers, and even fewer have addressed the equally important question of prevention. The present studies are conducted within the context of a long-range goal to identify effective intervention methodologies for both the prevention and treatment of voice problems in teachers taking into consideration multicultural and linguistic factors. The present studies will report pragmatic data around the effectiveness of two theoretically-driven approaches to the prevention and treatment of voice problems in teachers, (a) voice hygiene education (VH) and (b) voice hygiene education + voice production training in "resonant voice" (VH+VP, essentially the Lessac-Madsen Resonant Voice Therapy program). Participants will be student teachers in Pittsburgh and Hong Kong, who will be followed from student teaching across their second full year of employment as a professional teacher. The central aims are: [1] to evaluate the effectiveness of VH and VH+VP for the prevention of future voice problems in student teachers who are vocally healthy at the outset of the protocol, versus the treatment of voice problems in student teachers who already have them at some level; [2] to evaluate the generality of the findings across teachers in the U.S. and China, using appropriate linguistic and cultural adaptations of the interventions; and [3] to evaluate the feasibility of an internet-based voice exercise and reporting program as a supplement to face-to-face interventions. Ergonomic and personal factors will also be evaluated for their differential ability to predict the risk for future voice problems in teachers. The results should be useful at a practical level, and should also lay the groundwork for future studies assessing similar issues around the prevention of voice problems in teachers, in particular as influenced by multicultural factors within the U.S. The results should also be useful for future studies investigating causal pathways in interventions around these problems.
This research study is designed to improve understanding about voice disorders that are due to uncontrolled muscle contractions affecting the voice box. The type of voice disorder depends on which muscles of the voice box are involved. Abductor spasmodic dysphonia may lead to a weak voice. Adductor spasmodic dysphonia may result in a strangled voice. Muscular tension dysphonia may lead to a strained voice. Some of the major goals of the study are to; 1. understand how sensation from the voice box affects voice and speech production 2. develop better ways to diagnose sensation abnormalities affecting the voice box 3. determine if patients with voice disorders differ from persons without voice disorders in the way they respond to sensory information from their voice box Researchers believe that by understanding better how sensations of the voice box are presented and how the muscles in the larynx respond to those sensations they will be able to develop better treatments for patients suffering from voice disorders. ...
The purpose the study is to determine the genetic causes of specific voice disorders that run in families. Researchers are particularly interested in two conditions; 1. Spasmodic dysphonia 2. Vocal fold paralysis Familial vocal fold paralysis can be a life-threatening disorder that can cause difficulty with vocal fold movement for breathing and voice and sometimes for swallowing. Studies are ongoing at the NIH to better understand the pathophysiology and to relate it to the genetic pattern of inheritance. Families are being recruited to participate in these studies and are being provided with further information on the disorder and genetic counseling if desired. Physician referral is requested for affected members of families with vocal fold paralysis of an unknown cause occurring over at least 2 generations. All travel, lodging, examination and counseling costs are covered for both affected and unaffected members of a family. Examinations include: voice, laryngeal, neurological, electrodiagnostic testing, genetic counseling, and radiological studies....
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a technique used to investigate the functional activity of the brain. The PET technique allows doctors to study the normal biochemical and metabolic processes of the central nervous system of normal individuals and patients with neurologic illnesses without physical / structural damage to the brain. Radioactive water H215O in PET scans permits good visualization of areas of the brain related to speech. Most of the PET scan studies conducted have concentrated on learning about how language is formed and decoded. Few studies have been conducted on speech production. This study aims to use radioactive water (H215O) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET scan) to measure blood flow to different areas of the brain in order to better understand the mechanisms involved in speech motor control. When a region of the brain is active, it uses more fuel in the form of oxygen and sugar (glucose). As the brain uses more fuel it produces more waste products, carbon dioxide and water. Blood carries fuel to the brain and waste products away from the brain. As brain activity increases blood flow to and from the area of activity increases also. Knowing these facts, researchers can use radioactive chemicals (H215O) and PET scans to observe what areas of the brain are receiving more blood flow. Researchers will ask patients to perform tasks that will affect speech, voice, and language. At the same time patients will undergo a PET scan. The tasks are designed to help researchers observe the blood flow to brain areas associated with voicebox (laryngeal) functions, movement of muscles in the jaw, tongue, and mouth, and other aspects of motor speech. Special studies will be conducted to evaluate how certain therapies and tasks can draw out symptoms in illnesses in which speech and language are affected. Results of these tests will be used in other studies to evaluate the neurologic mechanisms of diseases like Tourette's syndrome and parkinson's disease.<TAB>