title: Voice therapy improves quality of life in age-related dysphonia: a case-control study.
abstract: The objective of the study is to determine the efficacy of voice therapy in the treatment of age-related dysphonia. The study was conducted using a retrospective case-control chart review. The medical records of 54 patients older than 60 years diagnosed with age-related dysphonia without complicating diagnoses were reviewed. Patients who chose to undergo voice therapy were grouped as cases. Patients who chose not to undergo voice therapy were grouped as controls. The voice-related quality of life (VRQOL) measure was used to measure outcomes before and after treatment in cases and at a minimum 2-month follow-up in controls. Of the 54 patients, 19 (10 female, 9 male; mean age 73 years) chose to undergo voice therapy and filled in >1 VRQOL questionnaire. Six patients (3 female, 3 male; mean age 66 years) chose not to undergo voice therapy and filled in >1 VRQOL questionnaire. The 19 cases experienced a mean improvement in VRQOL score of 19.21 (2-tailed matched pairs t test P=0.00038) after a mean of 4.1 voice therapy sessions and 5.1 months. The six controls experienced a mean change in VRQOL score of 0.42 (2-tailed matched pairs t test P=0.96) after a mean of 3.3 months. Voice therapy leads to statistically significant improvement in the VRQOL life in elderly patients with age-related dysphonia. It is an efficacious noninvasive therapy for this disease.
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery, Atlanta, Georgia 30308, USA.
authors.forename: Eric E
authors.initials: EE
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: Edie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hapner
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Johns
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D014833:Voice Quality; D014834:Voice Training