Effect of the Finnish Tube on the Voice of a Deaf Musician: A Case Report

The Immediate Effect of Straw Phonation in Children With Repaired Cleft Palate

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to investigate the immediate effect of straw phonation on the phonation of Persian-speaking children with repaired cleft palate.

STUDY DESIGN

Quasi-experimental preintervention and postintervention.

METHODS

Seventeen children with repaired cleft palate and velopharyngeal dysfunction were investigated. A control group was established comprising children without a cleft palate (control group), carefully matched in terms of age and gender. All participants underwent straw phonation and assessment. The assessments were made two times: at baseline and immediately after straw phonation. Each participant performs straw phonation (a short straw measuring 3 mm in inner diameter and 20 cm in length) once for 3 minutes. The acoustic analysis including parameters, such as jitter, shimmer, harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), cepstral peak prominence (CPP) parameters, as well as the electroglottography (closed quotient [CQ]) analysis were performed at pretreatment and immediately after treatment.

RESULTS

Compared with the pretreatment values, after-treatment observation demonstrated a significant reduction in Jitter % and Shimmer %, and a significant enhancement in HNR and CPP among children with repaired cleft palate. There is no significant difference in intragroup data in the CPP and CQ in pretreatment.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed straw phonation technique results in an immediate positive change in the quality of voice in both groups. Moreover, assessments in the clinical group showed a significant decrease in shimmer and jitter perturbation, alongside elevated levels of HNR and CPP subsequent to straw phonation, irrespective of the phonatory task.

Volitional and Non-volitional Devices Used in Voice Therapy and Training: A Scoping Review-Part A

OBJECTIVE

To map the volitional and non-volitional devices used by speech and language pathologists (SLPs) in voice training and therapy and characterize their use in research on voice interventions.

METHODS

This scoping review is the first part of a larger study. The electronic search was carried out by mapping the references in PubMed/Medline, LILACS/BVS, Scopus, Web of Science, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library, and the manual search was carried out in the grey literature. Two blind independent reviewers selected and extracted data; divergences were solved by consensus. The data extracted in this part of the study were the authorship and year of publication, country, study design, sample characteristics, intervention modality, ingredient, target, mechanism of action, dosage, and outcome measures. They were addressed with descriptive analysis.

RESULTS

Publications that use devices as ingredients are mostly from the last two decades, mainly carried out in the United States of America and Brazil, in adults of both sexes with behavioral dysphonia. Forty-two types of devices were used, many of them with similar approaches but different nomenclatures. Most devices were used voluntarily, focusing on vocal function, and aiming to increase source and filter interaction. Most studies used silicone tubes. The most reported technical specification to apply the ingredient was surface electrodes on the neck. Device dosage was time-controlled, and the most used outcomes were self-assessment and acoustic analysis.

CONCLUSION

Devices are currently used as ingredients in vocal interventions, with a greater focus on increasing the source and filter interaction, associated with silicone tubes (the most used devices in these studies), which have been dosed with performance time. Outcomes were measured with self-assessment instruments.

Respiratory and Sound Pressures, Maximum Phonation Time, Cervical Disability and Voice-Related Quality of Life of Teachers

INTRODUCTION

Many teachers report discomfort and a decrease in the quality of aerodynamic, respiratory, and cervical vocal aspects as well as of vocal self-assessment.

OBJECTIVE

Characterize and correlate measurements of Sound Pressure Levels, Maximum Phonation Time of /a/, Maximum Respiratory Pressures, Voice-Related Quality of Life and cervical pain in teachers with vocal and musculoskeletal complaints and no organic vocal fold lesions, and compare with normative values.

METHODS

Retrospective study with 56 teachers. Anamnesis, video laryngoscopy, hearing screening, measurements of sound pressure and maximum phonation time, and manovacuometry were performed. Self-assessment protocols for Voice-Related Quality of Life and Neck Disability Index were completed.

RESULTS

there was significant higher Sound Pressure Levels; significant lower Maximum Phonation Time of /a/, Maximum Expiratory Pressure, and total and physical scores of Voice-Related Quality of Life; most participants had mild cervical disability; there was a negative correlation between Maximum Expiratory Pressure and Neck Disability Index, between Maximum Inspiratory Pressure and Maximum Sound Pressure Level, and between Neck Disability Index and Voice-Related Quality of Life.

CONCLUSION

The results showed that there are damages and inadequacies in teachers' vocal production which affect their quality of life. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the conditions of use of the voice by professionals, and to their health education.