PRELIMINARY-STUDY OF 2 METHODS OF TREATMENT FOR LARYNGEAL NODULES

To date, a limited number of formal studies have assessed the efficacy of voice therapy for laryngeal nodules. The present study represents a preliminary stage of inquiry in a series of planned studies on this topic. Thirteen women with nodules participated as paid subjects. Some subjects received ''confidential voice therapy,'' some received ''res onant voice therapy,'' and some received no therapy (control condition ) over a period of approximately 2 weeks. Pre-and post-therapy measure s of phonatory effort, auditory-perceptual status of voice, and laryng eal appearance provided evidence of a benefit from therapy. Baseline m easures were then repeated 2 weeks after therapy was terminated. The f inal results indicated that, for auditory-perceptual and phonatory eff ort measures, the likelihood of benefiting from therapy directly covar ied with compliance scores (reflecting the reported extraclinical util ization of the therapy technique), but not with therapy type (confiden tial vs. resonant voice therapy). At this level, the results point to the importance of assessing not only therapy type but also compliance in future, larger studies. A series of other positive and negative fac tors in the present research design were identified based on the resul ts. These should be considered in future studies.