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At least 1,063 records · Page 59Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

Vocal fatigue in young trained singers across a solo performance: a preliminary study.

This preliminary study aimed to measure changes in vocal function across a solo vocal performance task. Five participants, all trained singers, were required to complete a 10-min standard vocal warm-up, sing from a familiar repertoire for 40 min, and rest their voices for 10 min. Vocal function data were collected at 10-min intervals throughout the experimental session. Acoustic perturbation, sound pressure level and semitone pitch indices were employed as objective vocal function measures. A visual analogue scale and checklist of vocal fatigue symptoms were employed as self-report measures. Results revealed individual variation in vocal endurance, suggesting the importance of vocal history and repertoire factors in predisposing the onset of fatigue. Sound pressure level and pitch indices appeared more useful than perturbation indices in reflecting meaningful trends in vocal change.

Acoustics↗
PubMed2004

The vocal health of auctioneers.

A questionnaire designed to assess vocal demands and vocal health was completed by 438 randomly selected auctioneers. Over 96% reported using amplification to auction the majority of the time. A greater proportion of individuals who auctioned in environments with poor air quality visited a physician for a voice problem than individuals who auctioned in environments with clean air. Significant contributors to vocal quality changes and vocal fatigue were frequency of auctioning, as well as auctioning in noise. In addition, the duration of auctioning without a break significantly contributed to vocal fatigue. Vocal hygiene recommendations are provided based on these findings.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

The effect of a 'voice course' on the voices of people with and without pathologies: preliminary observations.

Several institutions provide voice practice for their teaching staff. These 'voice courses' provide a unique treatment situation, in which some participants have a diagnosed laryngeal pathology, while others have no vocal complaints. Therefore, these voice courses can be viewed as group voice therapy as well as preventive voice treatment. The present study was aimed at providing a preliminary voice evaluation of participants in such a group, prior to and following treatment, using perceptual and acoustic analyses. Sixteen male teachers, who enrolled in a voice course, participated in eight consecutive sessions. Of this group, seven teachers were diagnosed with laryngeal pathologies, while the others had none. All participants were recorded before and after treatment. Recordings were analyzed acoustically, and also evaluated perceptually by ten experienced speech pathologists. Results indicated that: (i) voice quality improved after the voice course, (ii) vocal improvement was more pronounced in the pathological group than in the nonpathological group, and (iii) the acoustic analysis paradigm yielded results that were not always readily related with those of the perceptual paradigm.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Vocal symptoms among teachers with and without voice education.

This study investigates the amount of voice training received by teachers in Finland and compares the incidence of vocal symptoms among teachers with shorter, longer or no vocal education. Participating were 124 primary, secondary and upper secondary school teachers; 63% of the teachers had received no vocal training, 15% had received short-term and 22% longer-term training. The incidence of symptoms was lowest in teachers with long-term training and highest in teachers with short-term training. The differences were non-significant among all teachers and females, but significant among males. Speech training seems to protect male teachers from vocal problems better than female teachers. Short-term training may lead to increased awareness of vocal symptoms, which can be helpful in voice protection.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Voice outcome measures: correlations with patients' assessment of their condition and the effectiveness of voice therapy.

This study investigated correlations between voice outcome measures. Participants' ratings from the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and a self-rating scale of vocal impairment (SRS) were compared with perceptual assessment (using GRBAS) and acoustic analysis of sustained vowels and connected speech. The measures were taken from ten female participants, pre- and post-therapy. Correlations between pre-therapy measures were generally stronger than between post-therapy measures; and parameters significantly related to participants' assessment of their condition differed from those related to participants' perceptions of improvement. Within the framework of the importance of multidimensional outcome measures, it is recognized that interdimensional relationships need not necessarily exist. For certain parameters, this appeared to be the case.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Phonetic considerations in the design of voice assessment material.

A read text is commonly used in voice clinics for auditory perceptual evaluation of dysphonic voices and acoustic analysis. This paper examines the phonetic make-up of texts in several European languages to investigate their comparability in the frameworks of international, multi-lingual clinical studies, and the need for outcome measures in evidence-based practice. The preliminary work described investigates the complex notion of phonetic balancing. It shows that, despite very different phoneme inventories, certain similarities of sound-type usage appear cross-linguistically. Although this high level analysis is of interest and of potential practical use, because of linguistic and speaker-dependent contextual variation, more fine-grained phonetic and acoustic analyses are needed.

Humans↗
PubMed2005

Voice symptoms of call-centre customer service advisers experienced during a work-day and effects of a short vocal training course.

Occupational voice users often suffer from voice symptoms to varying extents. The first goal of this study was to find out how telephone customer service advisers experience voice symptoms at different moments of the working day. The second goal was to investigate the effects of a short vocal training course arranged for telephone workers. The results indicate that although the subjects did not suffer from severe voice problems, the short vocal training course significantly reduced some of the vocal symptoms they had experienced. The results suggest that systematic consultation and training for occupational voice users in the field of occupational voice care would be advantageous.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Artificially lengthened and constricted vocal tract in vocal training methods.

It is common practice in vocal training to make use of vocal exercise techniques that involve partial occlusion of the vocal tract. Various techniques are used; some of them form an occlusion within the front part of the oral cavity or at the lips. Another vocal exercise technique involves lengthening the vocal tract; for example, the method of phonation into small tubes. This essay presents some studies made on the effects of various vocal training methods that involve an artificially lengthened and constricted vocal tract. The influence of sufficient acoustic impedance on vocal fold vibration and economical voice production is presented.

Humans↗
PubMed2005

Prevention of succinylcholine-induced fasciculation and myalgia: a meta-analysis of randomized trials.

Fifty-two randomized trials (5,318 patients) were included in this meta-analysis. In controls, the incidence of fasciculation was 95%, and the incidence of myalgia at 24 h was 50%. Nondepolarizing muscle relaxants, lidocaine, or magnesium prevented fasciculation (number needed to treat, 1.2-2.5). Best prevention of myalgia was with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (number needed to treat, 2.5) and with rocuronium or lidocaine (number needed to treat, 3). There was a dose-dependent risk of blurred vision, diplopia, voice disorders, and difficulty in breathing and swallowing (number needed to harm, < 3.5) with muscle relaxants. There was evidence of less myalgia with 1.5 mg/kg succinylcholine (compared with 1 mg/kg). Opioids had no impact. Succinylcholine-induced fasciculation may best be prevented with muscle relaxants, lidocaine, or magnesium. Myalgia may best be prevented with muscle relaxants, lidocaine, or nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs. The risk of potentially serious adverse events with muscle relaxants is not negligible. Data that allow for a risk-benefit assessment are lacking for other drugs.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal↗
PubMed2002

Prospective functional voice assessment in patients undergoing thyroid surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze voice function before and after thyroidectomy for patients with normal preoperative voice using a standardized multidimensional voice assessment protocol. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: The natural history of post-thyroidectomy voice disturbances for patients with preserved laryngeal nerve function has not been systematically studied and characterized with the intent of using the data for postoperative voice rehabilitation. METHODS: During a prospective single-arm study, patients with normal voice underwent functional voice testing using a standardized voice grading scale and a battery of acoustic, aerodynamic, glottographic, and videostroboscopic tests before, 1 week after, and 3 months after thyroidectomy. Differences in observed sample means were evaluated using analysis of covariance or t test; categorical data was analyzed using the Fisher exact or chi-square test. RESULTS: Fifty-four patients were enrolled; 50 and 46 were evaluable at 1 week and 3 months, respectively. No patient developed recurrent laryngeal nerve injury; one had superior laryngeal nerve injury. Fifteen (30%) patients reported early subjective voice change and seven (14%) reported late (3-month) subjective voice change. Forty-two (84%) patients had significant objective change in at least one voice parameter. Six (12%) had significant alterations in more than three voice measures, of which four (67%) were symptomatic, whereas 25% with three or fewer objective changes had symptoms. Patients with persistent voice change at 3 months had an increased likelihood of multiple (more than three) early objective changes (43% vs. 7%). Early maximum phonational frequency range and vocal jitter changes from baseline were significantly associated with voice symptoms at 3 months. CONCLUSIONS: Early vocal symptoms are common following thyroidectomy and persist in 14% of patients. Multiple (more than three) objective voice changes correlate with early and late postoperative symptoms. Alterations in maximum phonational frequency range and vocal jitter predict late perceived vocal changes. Factors other than laryngeal nerve injury appear to alter post-thyroidectomy voice. The variability of patient symptoms underscores the importance of understanding the physiology of dysphonia.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

Nasalance measures in German-speaking cleft patients.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate nasalance measures in German-speaking patients with different types of repaired cleft lip and palate and to find out if significant nasalance gender differences exist in the different cleft groups. A total of 125 German-speaking cleft patients (74 male and 51 female) were included in this study: 18 patients with isolated unilateral cleft lip (UCL; mean age: 13.00 +/- 2.03 years), 66 patients with complete unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP; mean age: 14.80 +/- 3.45 years), 25 patients with isolated cleft palate (CP; mean age: 14.60 +/- 3.48 years), and 16 patients with complete bilateral cleft lip and palate (BCLP; mean age: 14.30 +/- 3.61 years). Nasalance data were collected and computed using the NasalView hardware/software system (Fa. Tiger Electronics, Seattle, WA). Speech stimuli according to a modified Heidelberg Rhinophonia Assessment Form (sustained vowels "a," "e," "i," "o," and "u"; oral and nasal sentences; and three oral-nasal reading passages) were used to obtain nasalance scores. Nasalance distance and ratio were also calculated for the oral and nasal sentences and for one of the oral-nasal reading passages. Unpaired t tests showed no significant gender nasalance differences in each cleft group. Analysis of variance showed no significant differences in mean nasalance distance and ratio. For the nasal sentence, a significant difference (P = 0.032) in mean nasalance scores was found between the UCL and UCLP groups.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Advances in burn care management: role of the speech-language pathologist.

Because the inclusion of the speech-language pathologist in a burn management team is not widely practiced, we discuss our successes as members of a burn team. We also review speech-language evaluation and treatment strategies and present two patients with head and neck burns who gained from our intervention.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Laryngeal activity during swallow, phonation, and the Valsalva maneuver: an electromyographic analysis.

To better understand the mechanisms of airway protection during swallow, the authors of this study performed an electromyographic (EMG) analysis on the thyroarytenoid (TA) and interarytenoid (IA) muscles during a variety of tasks. The tasks included high, low, and comfortable pitch phonation, the Valsalva maneuver, saliva swallow, and 5- and 10-mL water swallows. Raw EMG signals were analyzed to obtain root mean square data, which correspond to a relative magnitude of muscle activation. The data show that both TA and IA muscles generate a similar level of relative activation, with the greatest electrical activity observed during swallow tasks followed by the Valsalva maneuver and phonation. The duration, onset, offset, and pattern of activity during the swallowing tasks also showed close synchronization between the two muscles. These data can be used in designing therapy for voice disorders and pharyngeal dysphagia.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

First results of clinical application of videokymography.

OBJECTIVES: Stroboscopy is based on the assumption that the vibration of the vocal folds is stable and regular. Irregular vibrations, which are common in voice pathology, cannot easily be studied and described in a reliable way. Videokymography overcomes most of these drawbacks. DESIGN: The use of the recently invented videokymography for studying vocal fold vibrations in patients is introduced. METHOD: Videokymography, using a modified CCD-video camera, works in two modes: standard and high speed. In standard mode the vocal folds are displayed on a video monitor in the usual way, providing 50 images per second (or 60 in the National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) system). This is used for routine laryngoscopic and stroboscopic examination of the larynx. In high-speed mode (nearly 8000 images per second) only one line from the whole image is selected and displayed on the x-axis of the monitor; the y-axis represents the time dimension. RESULTS: All kinds of vocal fold vibrations, including those leading to pathological rough, breathy, hoarse, or diplophonic voice productions can be observed. Videokymography visualizes small left-right asymmetries, open quotient differences along the glottis, lateral propagation of mucosal waves, and movements of the upper margin and, sometimes in the closing phase, the lower margin of the vocal folds. CONCLUSION: Videokymography is advantageous for a more accurate diagnosis of voice disorders. Videokymography provides a simple way to study irregular vibrations of the vocal folds. Information is directly available for further processing and allows a first-time quantification of vibrations registered.

Aged↗