Isolated and Combined Respiratory Training for Muscle Tension Dysphonia: Preliminary Findings.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of altering speech breathing patterns and dysphonia severity through training increased levels of lung volume use during speech. It was hypothesized that respiratory-based training would increase lung volume levels during speech as well as improve acoustic voice measures, and that the addition of laryngeal-based treatment would further improve voice acoustics by treatment completion.

Method: A multiple baseline, single subject design was replicated over six participants with primary muscle tension dysphonia as a preliminary investigation of novel respiratory treatment methods.