Effects of Voice Therapy: A Comparison Between Individual and Group Therapy.

Objective: The primary aim of this clinical evaluation project is to study the effect of voice therapy given in the speech-language pathology clinic, as individual and group therapy, as well as finding out some of the reasons for not attending the recommended therapy.

Method: All patients visiting the speech-language department during the study period were asked to participate in a clinical evaluation project. The project included filling out the questionnaire Swedish Voice Handicap Index (VHI-11) twice: at their first visit at the clinic, and approximately 1 year later. Depending on the degree of voice problems, the patients were offered either individual or group therapy.

Result: The study included 187 patients at their first visit to the clinic and 109 patients at follow-up. All participants completed self-evaluation of voice function with the VHI-11 and separate questions regarding overall voice problems, hoarseness, and vocal fatigue. For the patients who responded to the follow-up survey, statistically significant improvements of self-perceived voice function were demonstrated in individual and group therapy. The improvement between the first visit and the follow-up was found to be of moderate to large effect size, with statistically significant improvements for both patients who attended individual therapy and those who attended group therapy. The most common reason for not attending the recommended voice therapy was lack of time.

Conclusion: Individual and group therapy is effective, resulting in improved VHI-11 scores. The magnitude of improvement is similar when comparing individual and group therapy. Patients with higher scores of the VHI-11 were generally recommended individual voice therapy.