Improving Voice Production for Adults With Age-related Dysphonia

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Presbylarynx; Age-Related Dysphonia

• Registration Number: NCT03702322
• Lead Sponsor: University of Arizona

Brief Summary

The objectives for this research are to determine the mechanisms by which specific therapy tasks improve voice in age-related dysphonia, and the conditions that limit the extent of improvement. The central hypothesis is that targeted therapy tasks will improve voice, and that severity will determine the extent of improvement.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study First Submitted: 2018-09-17
• Study First Submitted QC: 2018-10-09
• Study First Posted: 2018-10-11
• Study Start: 2019-04-01
• Status Verified: 2024-08
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-08-16
• Last Update Posted: 2024-08-20
• Primary Completion: 2026-09-30
• Study Completion: 2026-09-30

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 220

Inclusion Criteria

• Adults in age range who volunteer
• Can understand and complete directions presented in English
• People with voice disorder associated with advancing age will be included, including bowing, incomplete closure, mild edema, erythema, signs of laryngopharyngeal reflux.

Exclusion Criteria

• Laryngeal differences not related to aging (e.g., vocal fold paralysis, moderate-severe edema, lesions, leukoplakia, dysplasia, Parkinson disease)
• Known history of stroke, brain injury, or other neurological disorder

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Acoustic measure of voice quality (Cepstral Peak Prominence)	End of year 3
Perceived voice quality	End of year 3	Participants will score the construct of "overall voice quality" using a technique called "sort and rate" in which listeners move icons representing each sound along a line. They align the icons so that best voices are on one side and worst voices are on the other. The distance between the icons represents how much better or worse one sound is than the other. There are no units to the scale. Rankings from all listeners are combined using the statistical technique of multidimensional scaling. The result is a ranked value for each sound file (i.e., voice production) that shows how different they are. There is no highest or lowest value.
Relative glottal gap from laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy	End of year 3

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Speed index from laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy	End of year 3
Open quotient from laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy	End of year 3
Fundamental frequency standard deviation from laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy	End of year 3
Maximum area declination ratefrom laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy	End of year 3

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

Mayo Clinic; 🇺🇸 Scottsdale, Arizona, United States

University of Arizona; 🇺🇸 Tucson, Arizona, United States