Cantor-Cutiva Lady Catherine, Ensar Büşra, van Mersbergen Miriam, Searl Jeff, Hunter Eric J
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.
Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan.
J Voice. 2024 Nov 5. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2024.10.012.
In voice clinics, vocal effort is a prevalent complaint, with around 25% of clinicians citing it as the primary issue.
This study had two objectives. First, it sought to establish the prevalence of vocal effort, both as the primary and the only symptom, among patients receiving treatment from clinicians specializing in voice disorders in various countries across South and North America. Second, this study aimed to distinguish key factors, including country of clinical practice, clinicians' experience, and the instruments employed to assess effort, associated with the identification of vocal effort.
This cross-sectional study surveyed speech-language pathologists (SLPs) from North and South America on vocal effort in patients. The survey covered SLP demographics, caseload composition, patient challenges, and measures of vocal effort that were used. Statistical analysis assessed relationships between SLP demographics, caseload, and vocal effort factors.
The results suggest significant geographical variations in SLPs' experiences with vocal effort. Colombian clinicians report significantly fewer voice cases and a lower proportion of vocal effort in their caseload, while Argentinian clinicians were more likely to report vocal effort in their voice cases. Years of experience were identified as a significant predictor of a higher likelihood of a voice-dominant caseload and higher rates of vocal effort among patients. Interestingly, using the Vocal Fatigue Index during the assessments increased the likelihood of reporting vocal effort in the clinicians' caseload. These findings suggest a potential association between experience, outcome measure selection, and vocal effort caseload. These lead to suggestions that opportunities for additional voice disorder training beyond that which SLPs find in school are valuable.
在嗓音诊所中，发声费力是一种常见的主诉，约25%的临床医生将其列为主要问题。
本研究有两个目标。其一，旨在确定在南北美洲各国专门治疗嗓音障碍的临床医生所诊治的患者中，发声费力作为主要症状以及唯一症状的发生率。其二，本研究旨在辨别与发声费力的识别相关的关键因素，包括临床执业所在国家、临床医生的经验以及用于评估发声费力的工具。
这项横断面研究对来自南北美洲的言语语言病理学家（SLP）就患者的发声费力情况进行了调查。该调查涵盖了SLP的人口统计学信息、工作量构成、患者面临的挑战以及所使用的发声费力测量方法。统计分析评估了SLP人口统计学信息、工作量与发声费力因素之间的关系。
结果表明，SLP在发声费力方面的经验存在显著的地域差异。哥伦比亚的临床医生报告的嗓音病例明显较少，且其工作量中发声费力的比例较低，而阿根廷的临床医生在其嗓音病例中更有可能报告发声费力情况。经验年限被确定为嗓音主导型工作量以及患者中发声费力发生率较高的可能性的一个重要预测因素。有趣的是，在评估过程中使用嗓音疲劳指数会增加临床医生工作量中报告发声费力的可能性。这些发现表明经验、结果测量方法的选择与发声费力工作量之间可能存在关联。这些发现进而表明，除了SLP在学校所学之外，提供额外的嗓音障碍培训机会是有价值的。
