Voice Outcomes of Intensive Voice Feminization Therapy for Transgender Women Delivered via Telepractice: Pilot Study

Chieh-An Lin; Chih Hua Chen; Ming-Jhen Tsai; Li-Chun Hsieh; Sherry Fu

doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2023.11.022

Voice Outcomes of Intensive Voice Feminization Therapy for Transgender Women Delivered via Telepractice: Pilot Study

J Voice. 2023 Dec 12:S0892-1997(23)00382-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2023.11.022. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chieh-An Lin¹, Chih Hua Chen², Ming-Jhen Tsai³, Li-Chun Hsieh⁴, Sherry Fu⁵

Affiliations

¹ University of Taipei, Department of Special Education, Master's Program of Speech and Language Pathology, Taipei, Taiwan.
² Changhua Christian Hospital, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Changhua, Taiwan.
³ Mackay Memorial Hospital, Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Taipei, Taiwan.
⁴ Mackay Memorial Hospital, Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, Taipei, Taiwan; Mackay Medical College, Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
⁵ Mackay Medical College, Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, New Taipei City, Taiwan; Taipei American School, Lower School, Taipei, Taiwan. Electronic address: fus@tas.edu.tw.

PMID: 38092569
DOI: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2023.11.022

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this pilot study is to investigate the efficacy of an intensive voice feminization therapy program provided via telepractice.

Methods: A total of 10 transgender women participated, with nine completing the therapy program. All participants received 12 sessions of resonant voice therapy in combination with Vocal Function Exercises and voice hygiene, which were completed within 4weeks. Acoustic and aerodynamic measures, auditory-perceptual ratings, Trans Woman Voice Questionnaire (TWVQ) and self-rated voice femininity were conducted before and after treatment.

Results: Statistical analysis showed significant improvements in acoustic measures such as fundamental frequency and semitones, TWVQ scores, auditory-perceptual ratings and self-perception of voice femininity after intensive voice therapy.

Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence to suggest that transgender women can benefit from intensive voice therapy when provided via telepractice, with a more feminine voice and better self-perceived voice-related quality of life. The limitations of this study were that the single-group study design lacked a control group for comparison, and the small sample size. Therefore, a randomize controlled and follow-up study with a larger sample size, exploring the effects of different treatment modalities on transgender women's voices is warranted.

Keywords: Intensive; Telepractice; Transgender women; Voice therapy.