Aged, Dysphonia, Speech Therapy
Conditions
Brief summary
People over 55 years are high-risk with voice disorders. Voice disordered elderly need vocal training in order to improve communication efficiency and quality of life. However, participation in vocal training of elderly is often restricted by motivation, time of practice, and availability to hospital, which thus reduces treatment effects. The purpose of the study is to design a telecommunication vocal training system and a vocal training program for voice disordered elderly in Taiwan. The investigator proposed a 3-year consecutive study, including a single-blind, randomized controlled trial, to test the hypothesis that vocal training via telepractice for voice disordered elderly are not inferior to the standard face to face training.
Detailed description
Randomization: per mutated block, 40 patients on each arms (experimental and control) Allocation: sealed envelope indicating either of the 2 groups Intervention: weekly vocal training, each course last for 30-40 minutes,lasting for 2 months Outcome measurement: before treatment, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months after treatment Primary outcome: 10-item voice handicap index Secondary outcome: acoustics and aerodynamic parameter
Interventions
BEHAVIORALVocal Training Via Telepractice
Vocal Training Via Telepractice, delivered by integrated communication service
BEHAVIORALVocal Training Via face-to face practice
Vocal Training Via face-to face practice at medical facilities
Sponsors
Far Eastern Memorial Hospital
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
55 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* patient equal or older than 55 years old * Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) score \>10 point * accessibility to a network connection
Exclusion criteria
* neurologic disorders * active pulomanory disease * mental disorder
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from Baseline of 10-item voice handicap index at 2 months | before treatment (after signing informed consent, prior to randomization) and within 2 weeks after the completion of voice therapy | min: 0(best); Max: 40(worst); |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Jitter | before treatment (after signing informed consent, prior to randomization) and within 2 weeks after the completion of voice therapy | percentage of jitter based on continuous vowel |
| Shimmer | before treatment (after signing informed consent, prior to randomization) and within 2 weeks after the completion of voice therapy | decibel (dB) of shimmer based on continuous vowel |
| Noise to harmonic ratio | before treatment (after signing informed consent, prior to randomization) and within 2 weeks after the completion of voice therapy | Noise to harmonic ratio based on continuous vowel |
| Perceptual Analysis using grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, and strain | before treatment (after signing informed consent, prior to randomization) and within 2 weeks after the completion of voice therapy | from 0(best) to 3(worst) |
| Maximal phonation time | before treatment (after signing informed consent, prior to randomization) and within 2 weeks after the completion of voice therapy | seconds |
| VLS | before treatment (after signing informed consent, prior to randomization) and within 2 weeks after the completion of voice therapy | Videolaryngostroboscopy (mucosal wave: normal, mildly decreased, severely decreased, absent) |
| smoothed Cepstrum peak prominence | before treatment (after signing informed consent, prior to randomization) and within 2 weeks after the completion of voice therapy | based on reading a Mandarin passage |
Outcome results
None listed