Voice Improvement in Patients with Functional Dysphonia Treated with the Proprioceptive-Elastic (PROEL) Method

Area of Science:

• Speech and Hearing Sciences
• Otorhinolaryngology
• Voice Disorders

Background:

• Functional dysphonia (FD) is a voice disorder impacting vocal function.
• Assessing FD requires multidimensional protocols to evaluate vocal parameters.
• The proprioceptive-elastic (PROEL) voice therapy is a potential treatment for FD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the effectiveness of the PROEL voice therapy method in patients diagnosed with functional dysphonia (FD).
• To evaluate the impact of PROEL therapy across different subgroups of FD patients, including those with and without glottal insufficiency and vocal nodules.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-two FD patients participated, divided into three subgroups based on glottal insufficiency and vocal nodules.
• A comprehensive assessment protocol was used, including videolaryngostroboscopy, maximum phonation time, Grade, Instability, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, and Strain (GIRBAS) scale, and the Voice Handicap Index (VHI-10).
• Assessments were conducted before and after 15 PROEL voice therapy sessions administered by a single speech-language pathologist.

Main Results:

• Statistically significant improvements were observed in periodicity and mucosal wave during videolaryngostroboscopy post-therapy.
• Maximum phonation time, GIRBAS scale scores, and VHI-10 scores showed significant improvement across all patient subgroups.
• The PROEL method demonstrated a positive impact on voice quality and patient-reported vocal handicap.

Conclusions:

• The PROEL voice therapy method is an effective treatment for improving voice in patients with functional dysphonia.
• PROEL therapy offers a viable alternative tool for speech-language pathologists managing FD.
• Further research, including randomized double-blind clinical trials, is recommended to compare PROEL with other voice therapy methods.