Evaluating the Effectiveness of Voice Therapy

Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Contributors

Forewords by:

Prof Robert Hillman (Harvard USA)

Prof Janet Wilson (Newcastle University UK)

Prof Martin Birchall (University College London UK)

Introduction                      

1. The need for evidence of treatment effectiveness. Paul Carding:

- Why do we still need evidence of treatment effectiveness?

- Is the concept of EBP still relevant?

- Hierarchies of evidence and the problems therein

- The structure of this book

2. The importance of study design. Paul Carding

- Different study designs for evaluating intervention effectiveness

- The 5-phase model of efficacy research

- Common flaws in study design

- Independent and dependent variables in voice therapy studies

- How do you judge the internal validity of a study?

- How do you judge the external validity of a study?

- Some basic statistical concepts

3. The effectiveness of voice therapy for functional voice disorders. Marianne Bos-Clark and Paul Carding:

- What we know already about treating FVD

- How robust is the recent evidence of effectiveness for FVD?

- What do we know about the therapy content of effective intervention?

- The outcome measures (validity, reliability, sensitivity to change)

- Summary table of all voice therapy FVD effectiveness studies 2000–2015

4. The effectiveness of voice therapy for vocal nodules. Sherry Fu and Paul Carding        

- Defining vocal nodules

- Treatment of vocal nodules

- Behavioural voice therapy for vocal nodules

- Effectiveness of voice therapy for vocal nodules (Phase I, II and III efficacy studies)

- Long term benefits of therapy

- Absence of treatment response

5. The effectiveness of voice therapy for organic voice disorders (mass lesions). Sue Jones and

Paul Carding:

- Organic voice disorders and the role of voice therapy

- Before surgery, after surgery or both

- The nature of the voice therapy intervention

- The evidence of efficacy

- Where to from here?

6. The effectiveness of voice therapy for unilateral vocal fold paralysis. Chloe Walton and Paul Carding:

- What types of UVCP patients receive voice therapy?

- Pre-surgery, adjunct or primary option?

- Does voice therapy work for VCP patients?

- The state of the evidence and where to next

7. The effectiveness of voice therapy for patients with Parkinson’s Disease. Patricia Gillivan-Murphy and Paul Carding

- Voice problems for patients with PD

- What do we already know about the efficacy of voice therapy for PD?

- What we don’t know

- Evidence-base strengths and weaknesses

- The studies in detail

- Future directions

8. Techniques for measuring change in voice over time. Paul Carding

- Choosing the most appropriate outcome measures

- Some important properties of voice outcome measures

- Voice Outcome measures in the efficacy literature

9. The future. Paul Carding

- Are there enough high quality studies?

- Evidence-based practice and individualised treatment

- The danger of “recipe book” therapy

- Generalization and dissemination

- The future