Aerodynamic Outcomes of Four Common Voice Disorders: Moving Toward Disorder Specific Assessment.
OBJECTIVES The two goals of the present study were to (1) determine the ability of commonly used aerodynamic voice measures to capture change as a function of known interventions and (2) determine if certain aerodynamic measures demonstrate better responsiveness to change in specific disorder types than others. STUDY DESIGN This is a retrospective, longitudinal, single blinded, cross sectional study. METHODS Patients (n 70) with a single voice disorder diagnosis of benign vocal fold lesions (lesions) unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP) primary muscle tension dysphonia (MTD 1) or vocal fold atrophy (atrophy) underwent baseline testing, a single intervention (phonosurgery or voice therapy) and follow up testing. Common aerodynamic measurements were completed in repeated syllables and an all voiced sentence. RESULTS Statistically significant improvements were observed for two outcome measures, average airflow in syllables, and average airflow in the all voiced sentence. Patients with lesions, UVFP, and MTD 1 improved in average airflow in the all voiced sentence. Patients with UVFP also improved in airflow in syllables. CONCLUSIONS Average airflow in the all voiced sentence changed as a function of treatment for the lesion, MTD 1, and UVFP groups, demonstrating a disorder specific pattern. Laryngeal airway resistance, and estimates of average subglottal pressure did not show significant change. Average airflow in the all voiced sentence measurements is recommended as a routine voice measure, and further investigation of other aerodynamic measures' sensitivity to change is warranted.
Journal of voice official journal of the Voice Foundation