The Effects of Korean Traditional Rhythm Therapy on Voice of Parkinson's Disease Patients: A Preliminary Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of rhythm therapy program on MPT(Maximum Phonation Time) and acoustic parameters in patients with Parkinson's disease. The therapy program utilized 5 Korean traditional rhythms: jinngyang, jungmori, jungjungmori, jajinmori, and semachi. The therapy consisted of counseling regarding vocal hygiene and actual therapy procedures. Six subjects with Parkinson's disease participated in the study; 3 subjects in experimental group and the other 3 subjects in control group. The pre- and post- acoustic analyses were performed in both groups. The results of this study were as follows; 1) MPT was significantly increased in the experimental group, 2) mono-pitch was significantly improved in the experimental group, 3) mono-loudness was significantly improved in the experimental group, and finally, HNR was significantly increased in the experimental group compared to the control group.