Ms. Debodt et al., PREDICTING VOCAL OUTCOME BY MEANS OF A VOCAL ENDURANCE TEST - A 5-YEAR FOLLOW-UP-STUDY IN FEMALE TEACHERS, The Laryngoscope, 108(9), 1998, pp. 1363-1367
Citations number
25
Categorie Soggetti
Otorhinolaryngology,"Medicine, Research & Experimental
Objectives: Investigate whether vocal problems in future professional
activities can be predicted by early laryngeal and phoniatric evaluati
on and whether a vocal endurance test can contribute to this evaluatio
n. Study Design: Five-year follow-up study of 30 female education majo
rs, initially documented with a standard voice assessment and a vocal
endurance test. Measurements before and after vocal endurance testing
were compared and related to the vocal outcome 5 years after the initi
al testing. Methods: Voice assessment included perceptual evaluation,
airflow measurements, Fo and SPL measurements, voice range profile and
laryngeal (stroboscopic) examination. The Standard Tolerance Test, as
recommended by the Union of European Phoniatricians, was followed. Th
is data set was completed with a questionnaire concerning the subjects
' vocal behavior. This questionnaire was repeated 5 years later. Resul
ts: No significant differences were found for ENT scores (laryngostrob
oscopy) (P = .018). Logistic regression was used to determine a relati
onship between initial observations and the final outcome. Conclusions
: The role of an endurance test as used in this study is negligible fo
r the prediction of vocal outcome. A combination of laryngeal examinat
ion, maximum phonation time, and perceptual evaluation, assessed prior
to the endurance test, reveals a prediction of the vocal outcome with
a specificity of 90% and a sensitivity of 70%.