Characterizing the Impact of Presbyphonia on Social Interaction

Conditions

• Presbyphonia

Eligibility Criteria

Sex

ALL

Age

65 Years - N/A

Healthy Volunteers

Not accepted

Interventions

• PhoRTE Program — OTHER
  Speech therapy program guided by a speech language pathologist. This program includes in person or virtual visits and at home exercises.
• University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale — OTHER
  A questionnaire measuring levels of loneliness.
• Social Disconnectedness Scale — OTHER
  A questionnaire that asks about social network size and the frequency of social activities attended.
• Patient Health Questionnaire 9 — OTHER
  A questionnaire measuring levels of depression.
• Aging Voice Index — OTHER
  A questionnaire of patient-reported voice outcome measures designed to capture the quality of life impact of dysphonia in older adults.
• The Edmonton Frail Scale — OTHER
  A questionnaire that measures frailty levels.
• Vocal Effort Scale — OTHER
  A picture based questionnaire scale that asks the subject to rate their perceived effort when using their voice.
• Montreal Cognitive Assessment — OTHER
  A screening tool used to test for cognitive impairment.
• Voice Handicap Index-10 — OTHER
  A questionnaire used to measure quality of life impact of dysphonia.
• Voice Problem Impact Scales — OTHER
  A 4 question survey that captures impact of voice on four domains - work/daily activities, social life, home, and overall quality of life.
• Cough Severity Index — OTHER
  A 10 question survey asking to rate severity of cough.
• Laryngoscopy — PROCEDURE
  Nose is anesthetized and a flexible endoscope is passed to visualize the larynx at rest and during sustained vowel production (/i/) for 3-5 seconds. This will be used to measure bowing index and normalized glottal gap of the vocal folds.
• Acoustic, perceptual, and aerodynamic assessments — OTHER
  Participants will complete voice recording tasks including sustained vowel production, six standard sentences, and 20 seconds of natural conversational speech. This will be used to measure CAPE-V rating, Cepstral peak prominence, fundamental frequency, signal-to-noise ratio, voice type components, mean flow rate, subglottal pressure, and vocal efficiency.

Study Details

The purpose of this study is to determine if presbyphonia, or voice disorder caused by age-related change in the larynx, is associated with change in social interaction. This proposal investigates the impact of voice impairment in older adults on social interaction, loneliness, social disconnectedness, and depression. A series of questionnaires, voice assessments, and interviews will be performed to improve our understanding of how voice disorders affect older adults and how treatment of voice impairment with voice therapy may improve quality of life.

Key Dates

Start date

Jan 10, 2025

Status verified

Mar 2025

Primary completion

Aug 31, 2026

Completion

Aug 31, 2026

Study Design

Enrollment

25 participants (estimated)

Allocation

NA

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Arms

• Experimental: Phonation Resistance Training Exercises (PhoRTE) Voice Therapy Program
  PhoRTE is a voice therapy program administered by a speech language pathologist for participants with presbyphonia. During sessions, participants perform five vocal exercises at individualized target vocal intensity. Goals of therapy are to increase muscular workload on vocal mechanism and target the respiratory and laryngeal muscular deficits that result from aging. Participants practice 6 days per week at home and meet with speech pathologist weekly for 4 weeks.

Primary Outcome Measure

The Effect on Loneliness with the PhoRTE Voice Therapy Program [ Time Frame: Baseline and at 3 months ]

Central Contacts

• Matthew R Hoffman, MD, PhD
  319-356-2201
  [email protected]
• Emma L Thayer, BS
  319-678-7518
  [email protected]

Locations (1)

Find similar trials in Iowa City, IA

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