title: Efficacy of Voice Therapy for Patients With Early Unilateral Adductor Vocal Fold Paralysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Although a variety of therapeutic techniques have been suggested for patients with unilateral adductor vocal fold paralysis (UAVFP), they were not aimed specifically at determining the efficacy of early intervention for these patients. The purposes of this study are to explore a protocol of voice therapy and to investigate its efficacy in voice therapy for patients with early UAVFP. A 12-week planned voice therapy protocol, including vocal function exercise, hard attack, and resonance voice therapy, was given to 10 patients within 6 months of initial diagnosis. Additionally, nine patients diagnosed with UAVFP within 6 months served as controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multidimensional evaluations of voice function were obtained for statistical analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to a control group, the experimental group receiving voice therapy exhibited significant improvement in the following: (1) glottal closure; (2) voice quality of grade, breathiness, monotone, and resonance; (3) acoustic measurements of jitter, shimmer, and noise-to-harmonic ratio; (4) aerodynamics measurements of maximum phonation time, phonation threshold pressure, and phonation quotient; and (5) Voice Handicap Index of functional subscale.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This prospective study established an effective protocol of early intervention of voice therapy in patients with UAVFP and demonstrated its efficacy in data on laryngeal physiology, voice quality, voice stability, voice efficiency, and communication function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ya-Chuan
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Kao
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shen-Hwa
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan; School of Dentistry, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: yutsaivwang@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yu-Tsai
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Pen-Yuan
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Chu
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ching-Ting
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Asia University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Wan-Zu Diana
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001307:Auditory Perception; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007600:Judgment; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010699:Phonation; D011312:Pressure; D011446:Prospective Studies; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013068:Speech Production Measurement / Q000379:methods; D049489:Stroboscopy; D013624:Taiwan; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014732:Vibration; D014741:Video Recording; D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D014827:Vocal Cords / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014833:Voice Quality; D014834:Voice Training
keywords: Acoustic; Auditory perception judgment; Laryngeal pathology; Unilateral vocal fold paralysis; Voice therapy