Efficacy of Doctorvox Voice Therapy Technique for Mutational Falsetto.

OBJECTIVE

This study investigated the efficiency of the DoctorVox Voice Therapy Technique using high back-pressure on mutational falsetto.

STUDY DESIGN

A total of 21 men with mutational falsetto and 25 age-matched healthy men were included. All patients received DoctorVox voice therapy using the doctorVOX device with high back-pressure. Ear nose and throat examination, videolaryngostroboscopy, and acoustic (SPL, mean F0, first three formants, jitter%, shimmer%, and NHR) and electroglottographic analysis (Closed Quotient and Contact Index) were performed at pretreatment, and at 1 and 6 months after treatment. The VHI-10 and the GRBAS scales were used for perceptual voice evaluation.

RESULTS

Compared with the pretreatment values, the first and sixth month values after treatment demonstrated a significant decrease inVHI-10, GRBAS, F0, F1, F2, F3, Jitt %, Shimm %, NHR, and contact index and a significant increase in closed quotient among MF patients. In the sixth month after treatment, VHI-10, jitt%, and NHR parameters were significantly lower than those of the first month. The first-month data for VHI-10, jitt%, and NHR values was significantly higher than that of the control group, while there was no significant difference between the sixth-month data and that of the control group.

CONCLUSIONS

The DoctorVox Voice Therapy Technique is highly effective in mutational falsetto treatment. At the first session, the patients reach a lower fundamental frequency in the chest register; by the 1 month after treatment, they have a normal pitch at speaking. The improvement in perturbation measures may continue for 6 months. Patients should be followed up regularly for at least 6 months after treatment to obtain optimum treatment outcomes.