1. Early Voice Therapy in Patients with Unilateral Vocal Fold Paralysis.
- Author
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El-Banna, Manal and Youssef, Gamal
- Subjects
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CHI-squared test , *COMPARATIVE studies , *LARYNGOSCOPY , *EVALUATION of medical care , *MEDICAL rehabilitation , *HEALTH outcome assessment , *PARALYSIS , *PATIENTS , *SCALE analysis (Psychology) , *SPEECH evaluation , *SURGICAL complications , *T-test (Statistics) , *THYROIDECTOMY , *HUMAN voice , *VOICE disorder treatment , *TREATMENT effectiveness , *SEVERITY of illness index , *EARLY medical intervention , *DATA analysis software , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *KRUSKAL-Wallis Test ,VOCAL cord diseases - Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this work was to study the efficacy of early voice therapy in the management of patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis. Patients and Methods: Three groups of patients suffering from unilateral vocal fold paralysis were subjected to a protocol of voice evaluation including auditory-perceptual voice analysis, the Dysphonia Severity Index (DSI) and the 20-item Voice Problem Self-Assessment Scale (VPSS-20). Patients were also examined using video laryngostroboscopy. The early voice therapy group was enrolled in a voice therapy program for 16 sessions as soon as the patients were diagnosed; the second group of patients did not receive voice therapy during the course of their ailment. The late voice therapy group was enrolled in a voice therapy after a period of at least 6 months following the onset of vocal fold paralysis. All studied patients were reevaluated after a period of 2 months. Results: The early voice therapy group showed better outcomes regarding VPSS-20 scores, auditory-perceptual voice analysis as well as the DSI. Conclusion: Early onset of voice therapy may enhance the reduction in glottal gap and improvement of voice quality by hindering the development of faulty hyperfunctional compensatory behaviors; early voice therapy may therefore enhance the patient's quality of life. © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
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