Efficacy of voice therapy for singers with dysphonia

Abstract

Over the years, numerous articles have appeared concerning voice therapy for the treatment of dysphonia in non-singers, including some with evidence-based medicine. However, evidence for voice therapy for singers has largely been lacking. Here we report nine singers with vocal fold nodules, vocal fold scarring, vocal fold atrophy or hyperfunctional dysphonia whose disorders were successfully treated by voice therapy. The nine patients (5 men and 4 women; mean age, 53.3 years) underwent voice therapy consisting of forward focus, such as semi-occluded vocal tract therapies, vocal function exercises (VFE) and resonant voice therapy (RVT). The effectiveness of the treatment was assessed by GRBAS, stroboscopic examinations, aerodynamic assessment, acoustic and formant analysis, and voice handicap index (VHI)-10 performed before and after voice therapy. All patients showed improvement of voice. Significant improvements were shown in maximum phonation time, GRBAS and VHI-10. One of the major changes in the singers was a more prominent formant cluster. These results indicate that voice therapy consisting of forward focus can help improve vocal function in singers with dysphonia.