ABCLOVE: Voice therapy outcomes for patients with head and neck cancer

Background. Dysphonia related to head and neck cancer is unique, and demands treatment tailored to its unique pathology. Activate exercises, breathing, counseling, laryngeal manipulation, oral resonance, vocal exercises, and elimination of habits (ABCLOVE) is an 8-week multi-modality voice therapy program addressing vocal rehabilitation specifically for patients with head and neck cancer. Methods. Twenty-nine patients with a history of head and neck cancer were enrolled in the ABCLOVE program and outcomes were retrospectively reviewed. Relative average pertubation, maximum phonation time (MPT), pitch range, Consensus Auditory Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V), and Voice Handicap Index (VHI) were assessed. Results. The pretreatment and posttreatment improvements in the relative average pertubation (1.86 vs 0.92), MPT (10.53 seconds vs 15.17 seconds), VHI (51.7 vs 29.9), and pitch range (168 Hz vs 244 Hz) were statistically significant (p < .0001). The subjective CAPE-V ratings improved in all but 2 patients. Conclusion. The ABCLOVE voice program provides clinicians with an effective and reproducible method for voice rehabilitation in patients with head and neck cancer. (C) 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.