Abstract:
Patient with vocal nodules often experience changes in voice quality, including inappropriate with their gender and age, which can affect communication efficiency and reduce their quality of life. Therefore, voice therapy from speech therapists is necessary to improve communication effectiveness. This study aims to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of voice therapy by telepractice in patients with vocal nodules. Five experts examined the content validity of the program, and the overall content validity index was found to be 0.95. To evaluate the effectiveness of the telepractice voice therapy in 12 patients with vocal nodules. They underwent telepractice voice therapy via the Zoom Cloud Meeting application once a week, 30-45 minutes each session, for 10 weeks in total. Each patient received a handout for self-practice at home. Computer Speech Lab (CSL) was used to record the participants' voices before and after treatment. The data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Signed-Ranks Test, and showed that Grade (median difference ; MD = 1.00, 95% confident Interval ; CI = 0.00-1.00) Instability (MD = 0.50, 95% CI = 0.00-1.00) และ Strained (MD = 0.00, 95% CI = 0.00-1.00) were significantly decreased (p < 0.05). Breathiness (MD = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.50-1.00) was significantly decreased (p < 0.01). However, Roughness (MD = 1.00, 95% CI = 0.00-1.50) and Asthenic (MD = 0.00, 95% CI = 0.00-0.00) were not statistically different (p > 0.05). the Multi-Dimensional Voice Program (MDVP) was used for acoustic analysis of 4 parameters, and the result showed that statistically significant differences (p < 0.01) in all parameters: mean F0 (MD = 22.50, 95% CI = 15.83-28.31), jitter (MD = 1.62, 95% CI = 1.11-1.99), shimmer (MD = 1.54, 95% CI = 1.04-1.68), and NHR (MD = 0.06, 95% CI = 0.05-0.9). The Maximum Phonation Time (MPT) was statistically significantly increased (p < 0.01) after telepractice voice therapy (MD = 3.14, 95% CI = 2.68-3.98). After telepractice Thai version of the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) revealed that that statistically significant decreased (p < 0.01) in all subscale: functional subscale (MD = 8.00, 95% CI = 5.50-11.00) ; physical subscale (MD = 9.00, 95% CI = 4.50-11.50) ; emotional subscale (MD = 8.50, 95% CI = 5.50-13.00) ; and total score (MD = 21.50, 95% CI = 19.00-31.50). Patients were satisfied with telepractice voice therapy at very high, with an average score of 4.69 out of 5. In summary, this telepractice voice therapy passed the content valid test and is suitable for clinical practice in patients with vocal nodules. Patients were also satisfied with telepractice voice therapy.