Association of voice and mental health diagnoses with differences in voice-related care utilization

Effects of Speech Characteristics on Electroglottographic and Instrumental Acoustic Voice Analysis Metrics in Women With Structural Dysphonia Before and After Treatment

PURPOSE

Literature suggests a dependency of the acoustic metrics, smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS) and harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), on human voice loudness and fundamental frequency (F0). Even though this has been explained with different oscillatory patterns of the vocal folds, so far, it has not been specifically investigated. In the present work, the influence of three elicitation levels, calibrated sound pressure level (SPL), F0 and vowel on the electroglottographic (EGG) and time-differentiated EGG (dEGG) metrics hybrid open quotient (OQ), dEGG OQ and peak dEGG, as well as on the acoustic metrics CPPS and HNR, was examined, and their suitability for voice assessment was evaluated.

METHOD

In a retrospective study, 29 women with a mean age of 25 years (± 8.9, range: 18-53) diagnosed with structural vocal fold pathologies were examined before and after voice therapy or phonosurgery. Both acoustic and EGG signals were recorded simultaneously during the phonation of the sustained vowels /ɑ/, /i/, and /u/ at three elicited levels of loudness (soft/comfortable/loud) and unconstrained F0 conditions.

RESULTS

A linear mixed-model analysis showed a significant effect of elicitation effort levels on peak dEGG, HNR, and CPPS (all p < .01). Calibrated SPL significantly influenced HNR and CPPS (both p < .01). Furthermore, F0 had a significant effect on peak dEGG and CPPS (p < .0001). All metrics showed significant changes with regard to vowel (all p < .05). However, the treatment had no effect on the examined metrics, regardless of the treatment type (surgery vs. voice therapy).

CONCLUSIONS

The value of the investigated metrics for voice assessment purposes when sampled without sufficient control of SPL and F0 is limited, in that they are significantly influenced by the phonatory context, be it speech or elicited sustained vowels. Future studies should explore the diagnostic value of new data collation approaches such as voice mapping, which take SPL and F0 effects into account.

Clinical Psychology and Voice Disorders: A Meta-Analytic Review of Studies Assessing Psychological Characteristics Across Individuals With and Without Voice Disorders

OBJECTIVES

Clinical voice disorders are heterogenous conditions capturing problems with voice production and control. Psychological conceptualizations of voice disorders posit that mood, anxiety, and personality characteristics contribute to the development and maintenance of voice symptoms. This review brings together research comparing these psychological characteristics across groups with and without voice disorders, with the aim of profiling group differences.

METHODS

A systematic search of PubMed, CINAHL, Ovid (PsycInfo, MEDLINE, Embase), and Web of Science databases was conducted, with studies required to assess psychological characteristics between samples with and without voice disorders. Relative study quality and risk of bias were formally evaluated, synthesizing results via meta-analysis (estimating standardized mean difference; SMD) and narrative synthesis.

RESULTS

Thirty-nine studies (N = 4740) were reviewed. Marked psychological differences were observed between case-control groups, including significantly higher self-reported features of depression (SMD = 0.50), state anxiety (SMD = 0.58), trait anxiety (SMD = 0.52), health anxiety (SMD = 0.57), and neuroticism (SMD = 0.47) in voice disorder groups. However, less consistent patterns of difference were observed between voice disorder types, including minimal quantitative differences between functional and organic diagnoses.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings underline and formulate the psychological features associated with experiencing a voice disorder, indicating individuals with voice disorders present with considerable psychological needs that may benefit from clinical psychology input.

Tissue-Resident Innate Immune Cell-Based Therapy: A Cornerstone of Immunotherapy Strategies for Cancer Treatment

Cancer immunotherapy has led to impressive advances in cancer treatment. Unfortunately, in a high percentage of patients is difficult to consistently restore immune responses to eradicate established tumors. It is well accepted that adaptive immune cells, such as B lymphocytes, CD4⁺ helper T lymphocytes, and CD8⁺ cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTLs), are the most effective cells able to eliminate tumors. However, it has been recently reported that innate immune cells, including natural killer cells (NK), dendritic cells (DC), macrophages, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), represent important contributors to modulating the tumor microenvironment and shaping the adaptive tumor response. In fact, their role as a bridge to adaptive immunity, make them an attractive therapeutic target for cancer treatment. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of the pleiotropic role of tissue-resident innate immune cells in different tumor contexts. In addition, we discuss how current and future therapeutic approaches targeting innate immune cells sustain the adaptive immune system in order to improve the efficacy of current tumor immunotherapies.

Association Between Communicative Participation and Psychosocial Factors in Patients With Voice Disorders

IMPORTANCE

Communicative participation can be conceptualized as taking part in life situations in which people are socially engaged. Communicative participation is an important aspect in the lives of patients with voice disorders, although it has not been formally assessed among a broad sample of patients with voice disorders. The associations between communicative participation and associated concepts (vocal impairment, psychosocial distress, and voice-specific perceived control) are unknown yet important for integrated treatment approaches.

OBJECTIVE

The primary objective was to examine the associations between communicative participation and vocal impairment, psychosocial distress, and voice-specific perceived control. The secondary objective was to examine whether perceived control moderates the association of distress with communicative participation and vocal impairment, the latter of which would replicate previous research. The hypotheses were that communicative participation would be associated with lower vocal impairment, lower distress, and higher perceived control and that higher perceived control would moderate the association between communicative participation and both vocal impairment and psychosocial distress.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This cross-sectional study was conducted from June 2014 to May 2017 among a consecutive sample of adult patients with voice disorders at an academic voice clinic affiliated with the University of Minnesota. Of the 744 patients approached to participate in the survey study, 590 patients agreed. Data analysis was performed from January to June 2020.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Communicative participation (measured by the 10-item general short form of the Communicative Participation Item Bank), vocal impairment (measured by the 10-item version of the Voice Handicap Index), psychosocial distress (measured by the 18-item version of the Brief Symptom Inventory), and voice-specific perceived control (measured by the 8-item present control subscale of the Perceived Control Over Stressful Events Scale).

RESULTS

The sample comprised 590 patients (mean [SD] age, 51.9 [17.1] years; 390 women [66.1%]) with voice disorders. Communicative participation was associated with lower vocal impairment (r = -0.73; 95% CI, -0.77 to -0.69), lower overall psychosocial distress (r = -0.22; 95% CI, -0.30 to -0.14), and higher voice-specific perceived control (r = 0.30; 95% CI, 0.23-0.37). Moderation analyses indicated that communicative participation was negatively associated with distress at all levels of perceived control and, replicating previous findings, greater vocal impairment was associated with higher psychosocial distress only in patients with lower perceived control.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

In this study, communicative participation was associated with, but distinct from, vocal impairment and was also associated with psychosocial distress and voice-specific perceived control. The study's results suggest that communicative participation is an important addition to voice research and clinical care.

Mental Health and Dysphonia: Which Comes First, and Does That Change Care Utilization?

OBJECTIVES

Voice patients with voice disorders have a high prevalence of distress and mental health (MH) comorbidities, but it is unknown to what extent distress precedes or follows voice disorder diagnoses. Objectives were to compare 1) proportions of voice patients with MH diagnoses who received MH diagnoses first versus voice-related diagnoses first, 2) voice-related diagnoses and care utilization, and 3) time to specialty evaluation in each group.

METHODS

Patients with voice and MH diagnoses were identified using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth and Tenth Revisions codes in a large health system data repository from January 2005 through July 2017. Sociodemographics, comorbidities, MH- and voice-related diagnoses, and voice-related care utilization were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariable regression modeling.

RESULTS

Among the 11,419 patients with both voice and MH diagnoses, 63% (n = 7,251) received MH diagnoses prior to voice diagnoses, compared with 37% with a voice diagnosis first (P < 0.0001). The latter group received more specific voice-related diagnoses (e.g., laryngeal cancer [odds ratio (OR) 4.27], benign laryngeal neoplasm [OR 1.60]), and were more likely to ever see an otolaryngologist than those receiving MH diagnoses first (P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSION

Most patients with voice and MH diagnoses received a MH diagnosis first. Patients who receive MH diagnoses first appeared to have different voice-related healthcare compared to those who received voice diagnoses first.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

NA Laryngoscope, 130:1243-1248, 2020.