Complete Vocal Technique Voice Therapy for Muscle Tension Dysphonia (CVT4MTD)

This proof-of-concept study is designed to evaluate whether a pedagogic technique used to help performers, known as the Complete Vocal Technique (CVT), can be used to help patients with a type of voice disorder known as Muscle Tension Dysphonia (MTD). MTD is responsible for up to 40% of patients presenting with voice and throat complaints. MTD is due to inefficient or ineffective voice production resulting from an imbalance in the control of the breathing mechanism, and uncontrolled constriction of the muscles in the larynx (voice box) or vocal tract (throat space above the vocal cords). Standard treatment is Voice Therapy delivered by a specialist Speech Therapist (SLT-V) often using a video link (telepractice aka telehealth). CVT is widely used in Europe by singers and vocal coaches. Practitioners (CVT- Ps) undergo a three-year accredited training programme, and the systematic and structured approach helps healthy singers and other performers optimise the function of the voice to produce any sound required. It also helps if the performer has vocal problems, which are also mainly due to uncontrolled throat constrictions. The purpose of this pilot study is to see if the CVT voice therapy approach (CVT-VT) can help, and offers advantages, to standard SLT-V methods in the treatment of patients with MTD. Ten adult patients will be recruited from the Voice clinic at Nottingham University Hospital. Participants will have a multidimensional assessment using questionnaires, and voice recordings and then receive up to 6 video sessions of CVT-VT delivered using a video link by a CVT-P. The participants will then be reviewed back in clinic at 8 weeks and be reassessed, using further questionnaires and analysis of the voice pre- and post-therapy recordings, to evaluate the outcome of this treatment approach. Qualitative methodology will determine whether CVT-VT offers any therapeutic advantages to existing SLT-VT treatment methods.