A randomized controlled trial of stretch-and-flow voice therapy for XXXX Dysphonia.

@entity1 @entity1032 @entity121
OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of stretch-and-flow voice therapy on vocal function and handicap. STUDY DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. METHODS: @entity1 with primary @entity121 dysphonia were randomly assigned to experimental or control groups. Experimental @entity1 received vocal hygiene education followed by 6 weeks of stretch-and-flow voice therapy. Control @entity1 received vocal hygiene education only. Outcome variables consisted of a measure of @entity1032 (Voice Handicap Index [VHI]), maximum phonation time, s/z ratio, and acoustic measures. All measures were obtained at baseline prior to treatment and within 2 weeks posttreatment or at the end of the control period. The pre- to posttreatment measurement change (delta   ) was applied to statistical analyses. RESULTS: A multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant group differences in pre-to-post changes on measures of VHI, maximum phonation time, and cepstral peak prominence (CPP) in connected speech and vowels (P   =   0.003, 0.013, 0.025, and 0.017 respectively), with a significant reduction of VHI (Cohen's d   =   1.6), increase in maximum phonation time (Cohen's d   =   1.2), increase of CPP in connected speech (Cohen's d   =   1.2), and increase of CPP in vowels (Cohen's d   =   1.1) in the experimental group compared to the control group. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary small sample randomized controlled trial found significantly greater improvement in @entity1032 , maximum phonation time, and acoustic measures of vocal function after @entity1 received stretch-and-flow voice therapy compared to @entity1 receiving vocal hygiene education alone. Additional research incorporating larger samples will be needed to confirm and further investigate these findings. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: 1b. Laryngoscope, 2015.
