Evaluation of an eclectic voice therapy program and vocal function exercise (VFE) in hyperfunctional voice disorders:...

To evaluate the outcomes of an eclectic program i.e., Comprehensive Voice Habilitation Program [CVHP] (Boominathan et al., 2023) among participants with hyperfunctional voice disorder using a multidimensional voice assessment protocol.

Randomized controlled trial (two-group parallel trial with double blinding).

Sixty participants from a quaternary care hospital were randomly allocated to one of the two groups: Group I (eclectic approach) - 30 and Group II (VFE) - 30 participants. All participants underwent voice therapy protocol (30 min sessions) twice a week for six weeks. The sessions were delivered by two speech-language pathologists. Outcome measures were documented before therapy (baseline) and immediately post-therapy using videostroboscopy, acoustic analysis, perceptual measures, self-reported symptoms, self-assessment such as Voice Disorder Outcome Profile (V-DOP) and Vocal Fatigue in Index in Tamil (VFI-T). ANCOVA and chi-square test were applied for assessing post-therapy group differences.

Base line assessment revealed no significant differences in baseline characteristics of the samples. A pre and post therapy assessment between groups showed significant difference in closure pattern (p = 0.02), reduction in ventricular hyperadduction (p = 0.01), cepstral peak prominence (CPPv) in vowel (p < 0.00), dynamic range in speaking (p = 0.01), overall grade (p = 0.02), asthenia (p = 0.03), and strain (p = 0.01) in GRBAS scale and factor I (physical discomfort) (p = 0.04) in VFI-T. The eclectic approach [CVHP] showed more positive changes post-therapy compared to VFE in this study.

The CVHP provided a systematic and sequential method to treat and document positive outcomes of treatment for individuals with hyperfunctional voice disorders.