Speech-Language Pathologists' Voice Assessment and Voice Therapy Practices: A Survey for Standard Clinical Guideline and Evidence-Based Practice

Objectives: Currently, there is minimal information regarding the voice assessment and the voice therapy of clinical practices that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) use routinely and for their job analysis in Korea. This is a preliminary study for evidence-based practices of voice disorders in order to investigate common voice assessments and therapy techniques that SLPs use for the patients. Methods: Twenty-nine SLPs have completed a 37-item survey, and then the data was being analyzed. Results: The majority of SLPs routinely used clinician-based and patient-based subjective assessments with the objective method. Specifically, the auditory-perceptual analysis and the Multi-Dimensional Voice Program of Computerized Speech Lab in acoustic analysis were most commonly used for voice assessments. The procedures of recording voice were diversed depending on SLPs and facilities. In voice therapy, most SLPs used a combination of indirect and direct treatment methods for both adults and children with voice disorders. The vocal function exercises were most frequently used in holistic voice therapies, and the most widely used voice facilitation technique was respiration training for patients with hypofunctional and hyperfunctional voice disorders. Additionally, many SLPs relied on their senior SLPs or user manuals when developing skills of subjective and objective measures as well as the therapy itself. Conclusion: The results suggested that a consensus for standardized protocol or a guideline of voice assessment is essential to provide effective treatments based on evidence-based practice.