Effectiveness of Two Therapeutic Approaches in Female Teachers With Voice Disorders

Effectiveness of Two Therapeutic Approaches in Female Teachers With Voice Disorders

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).

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.

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