The Efficacy of Two Semi-occluded Vocal Tract Exercises on Voice Characteristics in Patients with Hyperfunctional Voice Disorders: A Randomized Controlled Trial
摘要
Semi-Occluded Vocal Tract Exercises (SOVTE) are voice treatment techniques based on the partial occluded vocal tract. Straw phonation (SP) is a type of SOVTE where the distal end of the straw or the tube is left open in the air. Vocal function exercise (VFE) involves exercises that form the semi-occlusion of the vocal tract with an expanded pharyngeal cavity and lips, creating a narrow aperture. The study aimed to document the efficacy of SP and VFE on subjective and multiparametric measures of voice among dysphonic individuals. The investigation was a three-arm, randomized, controlled trial. A total of 20 participants with dysphonia were randomly assigned to either experimental group 1 (EG1), i.e., SP group, experimental group 2 (EG2), i.e., VFE group, or a control group (CG). The data was collected in—condition 1, i.e., pre-intervention and in condition 2, i.e., post-intervention or after six sessions of allocated intervention. The outcome measures included the perceptual, self-reported and multiparametric measures. Kruskal-Walli’s test revealed that groups had a significant effect on all the outcome measures. The results also revealed significant differences between the groups. The results also showed that the EGs demonstrated significant improvements in outcome measures. The results add to the evidence that SP and VFE can lead to significant improvements in voice characteristics in patients with hyperfunctional voice disorders.