Effectiveness of Two Therapeutic Approaches in Female Teachers With Voice Disorders

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The study compares two different approaches of voice therapy. Vocal Functional Exercises (Stemple,1997) and Voice Amplification using a portable amplifier (Tsi Supervoz II - Tecnisystem do Brasil TSI 1210).

Detailed Description
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Both approaches combined with Vocal Hygiene Program (Behlau, 2007).The target population are female teachers because they have the highest risk for developing voice problems. For this study the investigators are primarily interested in seeing if Vocal Functional Exercises and Voice Amplification are equally effective at improving vocal functioning in teachers with voice disorders. The Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation will be done before randomization. All the participants will complete before and after a 6-week treatment phase (a) Voice Activity and Participation Profile (PPAV), an instrument designed to appraise the self-perceived psychosocial consequences of voice disorders to assess the impact of voice disorders on daily activities (b) Audio voice recording for later acoustic analysis, through the Kay Elemetrics Multi Dimensional Voice Program (c) Audio recording for later perceptual analysis through Consensus Auditory-Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE_V). It is believed that the search for evidence in clinical studies like this can contribute to awareness programs and vocal training for teachers.

Official Title
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Effectiveness of Two Therapeutic Approaches in Female Teachers With Voice Disorders

Conditions
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Voice Disorders

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Voice Amplification
* Behavioral: Function Voice Exercises


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Female teacher 21-50 years old. Full or part time elementary to middle school teacher ( Prefeitura Municipal de Belo Horizonte). Minimum 20 hour weekly workload. Medical reference to speech therapy due to behavioral dysphonia Exclusion Criteria: Physical education or daycare teachers. Professional singers. Neurological and/or psychiatric voice disorders

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 21 Years
Maximum Age: 50 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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Female

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Function Voice Exercises<br>Behavioral: Function Voice Exercises Patients will receive 6 sessions of therapy over a course of 6 weeks, with one session per week. | Behavioral: Function Voice Exercises<br>* Function Voice Exercises Patients will receive 6 sessions of therapy over a course of 6 weeks, with one session per week.<br>|
| Experimental: Voice amplification<br>Behavioral: Voice amplification Patients will use VA over a course of 6 weeks. | Behavioral: Voice Amplification<br>* Behavioral: Voice Amplification. Patients use VA over a course of 6 weeks Control group. No treatment over a course of 6 weeks.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation |  | One year | 
| Score(CAPE_V); score(PPAV); score on acoustic analysis |  | One year | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Voice disorders, Voice