• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.63-67
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• 2009

Background and Objectives: In patients with asthma, increased obstruction and resistance of airway result in impairment in the generation of voice. Allergy and nasal polyposis, which are frequently observed in patients with asthma, are other factors that affect the vocal performance. Bronchodilators and steroids are commonly used in the treatment of asthma, and these agents also have been reported to be associated with voice changes. The aim of this study is to evaluate the voice quality in patients with mild to-moderate asthma by subjective and objective methods. Materials and Methods: A total of 36 patients with asthma established in the Department of Respiratory Medicine were included in this study. 23 were women and 13 were men, with a mean age of 51.7 years. The average duration of asthma was 77.0 months. All patients had mild-to moderate asthma. Acoustic and aerodynamic analyses were performed and the movements of the vocal cords were examined by videolaryngostroboscopy (VLS). Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and GRABS scales were used for subjective evaluations. Results: 50% of patients suffered from dysphonia and FO was 119.3${\pm}$23.7 Hz in male and 198.2${\pm}$18.4 Hz in female patients. There were no significant differences in average shimmer and NHR between females (4.90${\pm}$2.95% ; 0.1O${\pm}$0.04 dB) and males (4.64${\pm}$2.45% ; 0.20${\pm}$0.15 dB). However, the value of jitter was greater for females (2.60${\pm}$1.92%) than for males (1.21${\pm}$0.84%). The VHI score was above the normal limit in 35%, and VLS findings were shown diverse abnormality in 89% asthmatics from mucosal change to hyperfunction of supragottis and contact granuloma. But duration of illness and steroid dose did not correlate with these findings. Conclusion: Subjective and objective abnormality was shown in more than 50% of asthmatic patients. We suggest that persons who suffer from asthma should be examined for possible voice disorders by laryngologist. Additionally, appropriate medical care and voice therapy should be provided for those who have voice disorders associated with asthma.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.47-51
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• 2011

Background and Objectives: Vocal polyps arc one of the most frequent benign laryngeal diseases. They arc usually found at the midpoint of the vocal fold. They are mainly caused by vocal overuse. Vocal polyps arc usually removed surgically. Generally, age-related changes to speech are attributed to change in anatomy and physiology of the speech mechanism. These changes result in increased variability in the acoustic properties of speech with age. Still, not 'all studies of age-related changes in speech have taken differences between the young group and adult group after laryngeal microsurgery into account. The aim of this investigation was to compare improvement of acoustic analysis in young patients and elderly patients with vocal polyps, before and after the laryngeal microsurgery. Materials and Method: One hundred and twenty-eight patients who underwent laryngeal microsurgery for vocal polyps from 2008 through 2011 were reviewed retrospectively. 105 of the 128 patients under age 60 were classified as adult group (AG), and remaining 23 patients as elderly group (EG). The speech of AG and EG were evaluated before and after surgery for identification of differences for age group across measures of fundamental frequency (F0), Jitter, Shimmer and Maximum phonation time (MPT). Results: There were not significant differences between two groups for improvement of F0, Jitter, Shimmer, NHR, and MPT before and after surgery. The findings suggest that elderly group compares quite well with adult group in effectiveness of surgery. However, comparison between elderly group and young group (Age under 40) there was significant difference of improvement in Jitter and Shimmer. Conclusion: In general, the results of the present research showed significant improvement in vocal quality after phonosurgery of vocal polyp in both elderly and adult group. However, comparison of improvement between elderly group and young group, there were significant differences of improvement in jitter and shimmer. Therefore, in treatment planning of elderly group, we should consider age related changes of vocal cord.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.245-252
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• 2010

Korea does not have a certain criteria on the respiratory ability and phonation of the normal aged, and also has no clear standard to examine the boundaries of geriatric diseases. This study analyzed the characteristics in respiration and phonation of the aged in normal healthy elderly from diverse angles with different variables. Thirty-three participants in total, seven males and eight females in the age group 55-64 participated in the study. Seven males and eleven females in the age group 65-74 were selected for the respiration and phonation experiments, and 10 different variables such as FVC, $FEV_1$, $FEV_1$/FVC, MPT, MFR, Psub, f0, jitter, shimmer and NHR were comparatively analyzed for each group of different age and gender. To see the difference in respiration and phonation by age and gender, the study conducted a two-way ANOVA. First, from the result of the analysis on respiratory ability, FVC of male appeared to be significantly greater than female. In both age groups of 55-64 and 65-74, male displayed greater FVC than female did. Second, as for $FEV_1$, $FEV_1$/FVC, the age group of 55-64 showed greater values than the values measured in the age group of 65-74. Third, MFR showed a significant difference by gender. In both age groups, male showed significantly higher MFR than female. Fourth, for different gender, a significant difference in MFR was observed. In both age groups of 55-64 and 65-74, male exhibited higher MFR than female. This study has a clinical implication in that it analyzed the criteria on respiration and phonation in normal healthy elderly according to gender and age. The normal aged showed a difference in their respiratory and phonatory functions by age and gender, it was closely related to the decline of pulmonary function due to the physical aging and the weak respiration coming from weakness of respiratory muscles. Also, the physical differences in height, weight, and the muscles in laryngeal and respiratory system between males and females had an influence on the performance. These results from this study might be a helpful guideline for the clinical criterion in the future.

• 재활복지
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.157-168
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of semi-closed vocal training-based Vocal Aerobic Treatment on the voice improvement of soprano. Study subject was one soprano who appealed to the suffering of her voice problem due to vocal cord nodule. A study method of conducting pre/post acoustic evaluation and subjective voice evaluation to compare the measures was used; Vocal Aerobic Treatment was carried out twice a week for a total of 32 session. In the acoustic evaluation, MDVP (multi-dimensional voice program) and VRP (voice range profile) were used to evaluate the pitch, voice quality, and voice range; in the subjective voice evaluation, SVHI (singing voice handicap index) was used to assess voice satisfaction. As a result of the pitch evaluation, the soprano maintained a proper Fo. As a result of the voice quality evaluation, the jitter, shimmer, and the noise harmonic ratio numbers decreased compared to the numbers shown before the treatment. As a result of the voice range evaluation, the scope of the range was broadened, with the number of semitone increasing from 30 to 35. As for the subjective voice evaluation, the result of the total score obtained after the survey report divided by the number of questions showed a decrease from 3.6 to 0.6. The soprano herself reported of having a minor extent of a voice problem. The summary of the above results reflects that Vocal Aerobic Treatment is useful in the voice improvement of vocalists However, as this study is case research regarding the Vocal Aerobic Treatment effect on one soprano, further research on the treatment effect covering many other vocalists is necessary. Also, there is a need for follow-up studies regarding voice management and voice treatment program on not only the vocalists but also the voice users in many other professions.

• 재활복지
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.169-194
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• 2018

The aim of this study is to examine changes in swallowing function and quality of life with therapeutic singing-based music therapy for patients with dysphagia. The music therapy program was based on the previous study (Kim, 2010), and designed to improve breathing, phonation, and swallowing functions focusing on laryngeal elevation. Three patients with dysphagia participated in this study and each participant received a total of 11 or 12 individual music therapy sessions and each session was conducted for 30 minutes. In this study, three kinds of measurements were used. First, the measures of maximum phonation time (MPT), fundamental frequency, average intensity, jitter, shimmer, noise to harmonics ratio (NHR) by Praat test, second, laryngeal-diadochokinesis (L-DDK) to investigate laryngeal elevation, and last, the Swallowing-Quality of Life (SWAL-QOL) was measured. These cases have shown improved breathing, phonation, swallowing function, and the scores of SWAL-QOL in all of the patients. It suggests that this music therapy intervention was effective on laryngeal elevation, and the music intervention with therapeutic singing can be effectively implemented in further research for patients with dysphagia.