Journal of Voice

AIM: Speech pathology is the first-line treatment for inducible laryngeal obstruction (ILO) and involves behavioral techniques to address symptoms and modify maladaptive laryngeal postures. Benefit from speech pathology is reliant on patients engaging in treatment sessions, regular home practice, and generalizing techniques to everyday activities. There is limited research exploring engagement in speech pathology treatment for ILO, particularly from the patient perspective. This study aimed to explore the experiences of living with ILO and how this experience may impact the way patients engage in speech pathology treatment...

OBJECTIVES: To describe the burden of psychiatric illness and psychotropic medication usage among the subset of transgender patients who undergo gender-affirming laryngeal surgery and describe some of the most commonly encountered conditions experienced by this population. METHODS: An Institutional Review Board-approved chart review was conducted for the 18 patients who have undergone gender-affirming laryngeal procedures from August 2019 to June 2022 performed at a single institution...

OBJECTIVE: To verify breathiness in the cisgender and transgender men and women's voices, compare values of acoustic and perceptual indicators of breathiness and fundamental frequency (f0) between groups, and compare them between the voices attributed as female and male. STUDY DESIGN: Cross sectional retrospective study. METHODS: The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee (4,937,140). Sustained vowel /a/ and continuous speech recordings of 21 cisgender men (CISM), 31 transgender men (TM), 32 cisgender women (CISW), and 31 transgender women (TW) were analyzed...

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the systematic reviews that focus on the prevalence of voice disorders (VDs), associated risk factors, and the demographic characteristics of patients with dysphonia. An umbrella review was conducted to identify general research themes in voice literature that might guide future research initiatives and contribute to the classification of VDs as a worldwide health concern. STUDY DESIGN: Umbrella review of systematic reviews...

OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to determine the psychometric characteristics of a translated version of the Voice Fatigue Handicap Questionnaire in Persian by examining the validity, reliability, and diagnostic accuracy using data collected from people with and without dysphonia. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHOD: The original questionnaire was translated from Italian to Persian using the International Quality of Life Assessment criteria...

OBJECTIVE: To assess the readability of online materials related to puberphonia. STUDY DESIGN: Online material review. METHOD: The study was conducted by performing a Google search using the specific keyword "puberphonia." Subsequently, 18 websites were selected for inclusion in the review based on predefined criteria. The selected websites underwent assessment utilizing three distinct readability metrics: Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG), Flesch Reading Ease Score (FRES), and Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL)...

AIM: To describe what is known from scientific literature on the use of laryngoscopy to enhance singing pedagogy and foster improvements in vocal development. DESIGN: The scoping review methodological framework by Arksey and O'Malley was used. REVIEW METHODS: A systematic search was conducted and peer-reviewed scientific papers were screened through the Rayyan software. Data were extracted and synthesized thematically as narrative text. DATA SOURCES: Searches were carried out on January 2023 in the Web of Science, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, ERIC, Scopus, Google Scholar, Embase and Academic Search Elite databases using relevant keywords to capture evidence, limited to peer-reviewed scientific papers in Nordic or English language...

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of symptoms of a voice problem in college students and to assess if general health factors and vocal hygiene habits serve as risk factors for symptoms of a voice problem in this population. METHODS: Participants (n = 289) from a university in the United States completed an online survey that included demographic and general health questions, the Screen6 questionnaire, and a list of 23 vocal hygiene habits...

OBJECTIVES: Vocal dysfunction is a frequent complication following thyroidectomy that can be associated with a negative impact on patients' quality of life. Although the effect of thyroidectomy on acoustic features has been widely studied, the examination of glottal flow characteristics to assess vocal outcomes following thyroid gland surgery has not been included in empirical research, to date. The goal of our study was to evaluate early and short-term vocal outcomes following thyroidectomy based on the analysis of glottal acoustic features during speech production...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to identify the accuracy with which graduate students in a department of communication sciences and disorders identify modal register, vocal fry, and uptalk presented in audio samples of female celebrity speakers, and to report these listeners' perceptual responses to a variety of attributes (eg, trustworthy, competent, educated). STUDY DESIGN: This investigation was an anonymous online survey study. METHODS: As part of an anonymous online survey, graduate students in a department of communicative sciences and disorders listened to training modules and then classified female voice samples according to the three features under investigation (ie, modal register, vocal fry, and uptalk)...

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to describe the theoretical and procedural framework of a novel intervention, Respiratory Lung Volume Training (RLVT), and to implement a standardized treatment taxonomy to operationalize the RLVT treatment paradigm. STUDY DESIGN: This study involved a prospective design with a consensus treatment classification process. METHODS: The RLVT paradigm was developed based on biomechanical constructs governing the interactions of the respiratory and phonatory systems in voice production and principles of motor learning theory...

Vocal tics can occur in neuropsychiatric disorders and result in familial distress. Management is challenging, particularly in children with developmental delay. A 5-year-old with cerebral dysgenesis presented with a high amplitude, high-frequency vocal tic. Type II thyroplasty with bilateral cricothyroid muscle myectomy was performed after initial botulinum toxin trial. Amount, volume, and pitch of tics significantly decreased, without change in swallow. Benefits persisted at 1-year follow-up. This is the first description of combined type II thyroplasty with cricothyroid myectomy for high-frequency vocal tic...

INTRODUCTION: Voice therapy (VT), a cornerstone in dysphonia treatment, relies on patient adherence for efficacy. Despite its positive outcomes, adherence rates remain consistently low. This study investigates the impact of cultural background on adherence to VT. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study that included all adult patients referred to our institution's Speech and Hearing unit, in 2018 for VT related to dysphonia. The study group included a distinct adult minority group (Bedouin Arabs) which was compared to a control group...

OBJECTIVES: To map the phonatory tasks and the result measures used to evaluate vocal fatigue in vocally healthy individuals. METHODS: This is a scoping review based on the following research question: What are the phonatory tasks and outcome measures used for the evaluation of vocal fatigue in vocally healthy individuals? The construction of the search strategy followed the PCC strategy; population: vocally healthy adult individuals; concept: phonatory tasks and vocal evaluation measures; and context: vocal fatigue...

OBJECTIVES: Thyroid cartilage (TC) calcifications may impact surgical planning and clinical management. However, few studies to date have implemented virtual reality (VR) to evaluate these calcifications. This study assessed the feasibility of evaluating TC calcifications in various regions and measuring their volumes through VR models generated from computed tomography scans. We also investigated age and gender-related differences in calcification patterns. METHODS: Ninety-two participants were categorized into younger, middle-aged, and older age groups...

OBJECTIVES: Silk-hyaluronic acid (silk-HA) is a novel vocal fold augmentation material used in humans since July 2020. We aim to describe indications, voice outcomes, and longevity data for silk-HA injectable when used for vocal fold injection (VFI) augmentation in a large cohort of patients with longer-term follow-up than preliminary clinical studies. METHODS: Retrospective chart review of Silk-HA injections for glottic insufficiency (GI) and follow-up between July 2020 and November 2023...

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to examine vocal fatigue and impairment, gastroesophageal symptoms, dysphagia risk, and sleep-related quality of life in individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) who have been treated with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) compared to those who have not received treatment. METHODS: Fifty-four participants diagnosed with OSA completed an online research form. Of these, 29 were receiving CPAP treatment, while 25 were not undergoing treatment...

OBJECTIVE: There are very diverse approaches for voice therapy, and the application of voice quality used in vocal arts in voice therapy can also be seen. However, there is little research on the application of opera voice quality in voice therapy. This study explored the applications of our Opera Voice Quality Exercise in the field of voice therapy and investigated the impacts of this exercise on pitch, intensity, voice quality, and vocal ability. METHODS: Sixty-two healthy subjects, defined as those with no discomfort in their voice and no appearance of organic lesions on the larynx via stroboscopic laryngoscopy were included in the study...

PURPOSE: To determine the effects of gargle phonation (GP) on self-perceived vocal improvement, vocal effort, acoustic parameters, and speech rate in patients with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD). We hypothesized that GP would improve voice, reduce phonatory effort, and alter acoustic and speech measures. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective randomized, single-blind cross-over clinical trial METHODS: Thirty-four participants (26 females, 8 males; average age 53 years) who were diagnosed with MTD completed the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) and were assigned three study conditions: Baseline (B), GP, and Water Swallow (WS; sham), presented in one of two counterbalanced orders B-WS-GP (WS1st ) or B-GP-WS (GP1st )...

OBJECTIVES: To investigate acoustic outcomes of gender-affirming voice training for trans women wanting to develop a female sounding voice and to describe what happens acoustically when male sounding voices become more female sounding. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective treatment study with repeated measures. METHODS: N = 74 trans women completed a voice training program of 8-12 sessions and had their voices audio recorded twice before and twice after training...