Effectiveness and Feasibility of Telepractice on Voice Therapy for Female Teachers in Elementary Schools with Self-Reported Voice Disorders

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of telepractice in voice intervention for female teachers in elementary schools with self-reported voice disorders.

Methods: Thirty-five female elementary school teachers with self-reported voice disorders volunteered to participate in the study. They were divided into a telepractice voice intervention group (experimental group N=18) and a face-to-face voice intervention group (control group N=17) based on their employment setting. The exact same treatment protocol was applied to both groups of subjects, except that the intervention group was seen through telepractice, and the control group was seen face-to-face. The treatment protocol includes vocal hygiene education and resonant voice therapy twice a week for a total of eight sessions. Auditory perceptual analysis, acoustic assessment, aerodynamic assessment and self-assessment protocol were conducted before the intervention and one week after the last intervention, and the differences before and after interventions within each group and between groups were compared.

Results: There was no significant difference in baseline data including age, working years, and voice symptoms between the two groups. Both groups showed significant improvement (P<0.05) in all voice assessment before and after the treatment sessions, except for the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) assessment. No statistical difference was found in other pre- and post-intervention voice assessment changes between the two study groups. The control group presented higher improvement in the total score, and the two subdomain assessments of physiology and emotion.

Conclusions: Telepractice voice intervention can effectively improve the voice quality of female teachers in elementary schools, and telepractice therapy can be an effective alternative to face-to-face voice intervention.

Keywords: In-person therapy—Professional voice—Resonant voice therapy—Telepractice—Voice disorders; Professional voice—Voice disorders—Resonant voice therapy—Telepractice—In-person therapy.