| Abstract | OBJECTIVE: Voice stimulability testing to determine voice therapy efficacy and prognosis is
commonly used during the voice evaluation, but little is known about how patient factors (e.g.,
voice diagnosis, dysphonia severity) can influence stimulability outcomes. The predictability of
voice therapy success with different stimulability facilitating techniques (e.g., hums, pitch glides)
is also unknown. The goals of this study were to identify relationships between patient factors,
voice therapy compliance, and stimulability testing.
METHODS: A retrospective chart review was conducted on 50 patients who were seen for their
initial voice therapy evaluation at the UT Southwestern Clinical Center for Voice Care. Chart
review included documentation of the stimulability tasks that yielded/did not yield voice changes,
level of stimulability, voice diagnosis, clinician-rated auditory-perceptual analysis of vocal quality,
therapy attendance, and compliance with voice therapy recommendations. Statistical analysis
was conducted to determine whether the types of facilitating techniques, voice diagnosis, and
dysphonia severity could predict how stimulable patients were and whether any stimulability
techniques could predict voice therapy attendance and compliance.
RESULTS: Patients diagnosed with functional voice disorders (e.g., muscle tension dysphonia)
were eleven times more likely to be stimulable for voice improvements than patients with
neurological voice disorders (e.g., vocal fold paralysis). Patients with lower dysphonia severity
were more likely to be stimulable than patients with high dysphonia severity. Specific facilitating
voice tasks did not predict level of stimulability. Stimulability level was not predictive of therapy
attendance or compliance with therapy recommendations.
CONCLUSIONS: Voice diagnosis and severity of dysphonia influenced stimulability levels.
However, voice stimulability was not predictive of voice therapy attendance or compliance, and
no specific facilitative task predicted level of stimulability. Future investigations should focus on
other means of measuring a patient’s motivation for change and on the predictive power of
stimulability testing on voice therapy outcomes.
|
|---|