Active clinical trials for "Voice Disorders"

Scientific literature supports that teachers are at greater risk for voice disorders than the general population. In the classroom, the teacher's voice represents the main communication tool. Optimal voice use is indispensable to ensure effective teaching and preserve the teacher's vocal health. This project investigates how virtual reality (VR) facilitates the learning of effective vocal skills and their application in real-world contexts. Based on acoustic analyses and self-assessment scales, the investigators compare 100 future teachers randomly assigned in two groups. The experimental group (n=50) receives a voice training by VR simulations and voice information. The control group (n=50) only receives voice information.

The proposed series addresses the prevention and treatment of voice problems in teachers. Data in the literature clearly identify voice disorders as teachers' primary occupational risk not only in the U.S. but also internationally. Moreover, voice problems constitute a global women's health concern. Until recently, few reports have been available around the treatment of these problems in teachers, and even fewer have addressed the equally important question of prevention. The present studies are conducted within the context of a long-range goal to identify effective intervention methodologies for both the prevention and treatment of voice problems in teachers taking into consideration multicultural and linguistic factors. The present studies will report pragmatic data around the effectiveness of two theoretically-driven approaches to the prevention and treatment of voice problems in teachers, (a) voice hygiene education (VH) and (b) voice hygiene education + voice production training in "resonant voice" (VH+VP, essentially the Lessac-Madsen Resonant Voice Therapy program). Participants will be student teachers in Pittsburgh and Hong Kong, who will be followed from student teaching across their second full year of employment as a professional teacher. The central aims are: [1] to evaluate the effectiveness of VH and VH+VP for the prevention of future voice problems in student teachers who are vocally healthy at the outset of the protocol, versus the treatment of voice problems in student teachers who already have them at some level; [2] to evaluate the generality of the findings across teachers in the U.S. and China, using appropriate linguistic and cultural adaptations of the interventions; and [3] to evaluate the feasibility of an internet-based voice exercise and reporting program as a supplement to face-to-face interventions. Ergonomic and personal factors will also be evaluated for their differential ability to predict the risk for future voice problems in teachers. The results should be useful at a practical level, and should also lay the groundwork for future studies assessing similar issues around the prevention of voice problems in teachers, in particular as influenced by multicultural factors within the U.S. The results should also be useful for future studies investigating causal pathways in interventions around these problems.

MDVP (Multidimensional Voice Program) has several parameters that can assess voice quality objectively, including Base Frequency (F0), Jitter, Shimmer, NHR (Noise to Harmonic Ratio), VTI (Voice Turbulence Index), and ATRI (Amplitude Tremor Intensity Index). MDVP may provide an objective yet non-invasive and comfortable alternative to assess voice quality - and to some extent, diagnose voice-related abnormalities. The utilization of MDVP in clinical settings is quite common but using it concerning occupational health is rare, especially in Indonesia. No study had reported usage of MDVP to assess voice quality in any occupational voice user group or reported a thorough comparison of MDVP parameters between occupational and non-occupational voice users. With an increase in the realization that voice can be an essential occupational modality, MDVP may become a practical alternative modality in assessing voice quality and occupational-related voice injury in clinical settings. This study will determine any association between occupational voice users and their MDVP parameters from medical records and the MDVP database in Dr Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Jakarta. The study also tries to see whether there is any value in using MDVP to assess voice quality in workers.

Objective: The purpose of this proposal is to use High Speed Videoendoscopy (HSV) to develop and test an imaging biomarker to support diagnosis and predict vibratory outcome after airway reconstruction. Our protocol will involve eliciting and recording the following five behaviors: (1) hard throat clear; (2) cough; (3) laugh; (4) short multiple phonations; and (5) sustained phonation. These HSV recordings will be used to develop the biomarkers. Study Design: A prospective cohort study of 60 patients, 36 who will undergo airway reconstruction and 24 age matched controls. Setting: Center for Pediatric Voice Disorders, Department of Otolaryngology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Methods: Subjects will undergo a full voice evaluation, including an HSV evaluation protocol, at the main study site prior to airway reconstruction, 6 months post and 1 year post surgery. Voice evaluation will include aerodynamic, acoustic, and perceptual voice assessments, a pediatric voice handicap index questionnaire, videostroboscopy, and HSV. The airway evaluation will include airway sizing and calibration.

The purpose of the study, Effects of Interaction of Caffeine and Hydration on Voice Performance, is to gather information about the effects of caffeine and hydration upon voice performance. The research question involves whether systemic hydration may reduce degradation on voice performance caused by caffeine ingestion. It is hypothesized that the hydration conditions will result in a less degraded vocal performance as compared with the nonhydration condition.The investigation involves abstention from any caffeine ingestion for 24 hours - from 8pm the day before testing to 8am the morning of testing. In addition, preparation for participation involves abstaining from ingesting any foods and liquids for 12 hours - from 8pm to 8am of the following morning. Each test will take about 10 minutes.

This Pilot study is designed to explore the rate of local side effects of fluticasone as delivered by Advair and to determine the best outcome measure to assess these effects. This study is the initial step, and will be followed by a larger scale study.

Preliminary investigations suggest that a novel blue light (BL) laser with a wavelength of 445nm is comparable to the commonly utilized KTP laser (532nm) for treatment of laryngeal pathologies. An animal study by the Principal Investigators showed that the blue light laser results in significantly less vocal fold scarring compared to the KTP laser, suggesting that the blue light laser may be a better instrument for treating vocal fold disease. However, there are no clinical studies directly comparing the two lasers on treatment of vocal fold pathology. The goal of the proposed study is to directly compare treatment outcomes of the BL laser and KTP laser for benign vocal fold lesions. All laser treatments will be performed in the office under local anesthesia as per standard of care. Outcome variables of interest will be compared between groups, including Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) score (measured at baseline, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months post procedure), laryngeal stroboscopic findings (1 and 3 months post procedure), and intra-operative pain. This study will provide support that the blue light laser is a comparable alternative to the KTP laser and allow the addition of this novel laser to the armamentarium for treating vocal fold diseases.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a technique used to investigate the functional activity of the brain. The PET technique allows doctors to study the normal biochemical and metabolic processes of the central nervous system of normal individuals and patients with neurologic illnesses without physical / structural damage to the brain. Radioactive water H215O in PET scans permits good visualization of areas of the brain related to speech. Most of the PET scan studies conducted have concentrated on learning about how language is formed and decoded. Few studies have been conducted on speech production. This study aims to use radioactive water (H215O) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET scan) to measure blood flow to different areas of the brain in order to better understand the mechanisms involved in speech motor control. When a region of the brain is active, it uses more fuel in the form of oxygen and sugar (glucose). As the brain uses more fuel it produces more waste products, carbon dioxide and water. Blood carries fuel to the brain and waste products away from the brain. As brain activity increases blood flow to and from the area of activity increases also. Knowing these facts, researchers can use radioactive chemicals (H215O) and PET scans to observe what areas of the brain are receiving more blood flow. Researchers will ask patients to perform tasks that will affect speech, voice, and language. At the same time patients will undergo a PET scan. The tasks are designed to help researchers observe the blood flow to brain areas associated with voicebox (laryngeal) functions, movement of muscles in the jaw, tongue, and mouth, and other aspects of motor speech. Special studies will be conducted to evaluate how certain therapies and tasks can draw out symptoms in illnesses in which speech and language are affected. Results of these tests will be used in other studies to evaluate the neurologic mechanisms of diseases like Tourette's syndrome and parkinson's disease.<TAB>

This study will investigate if the performance on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is associated or predictive of the outcomes in voice, swallowing or upper airway therapy in the older laryngology treatment seeking patients. The relationship between the scores of MoCA and parameters in therapy will be analyzed. The outcomes of this study could potentially impact how investigators determine candidacy for therapy and develop patient treatment plans to meet their needs. This is a collaborative study with Emory Voice Center and the NYU Voice Center.

To determine whether the use of anti-adhesion barrier after thyroid surgery can prevent the voice changes after surgery, using objective voice-related indicators.