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NCT Number: NCT03702322

Improving Voice Production for Adults With Age-related Dysphonia

The objectives for this research are to determine the mechanisms by which specific therapy tasks improve voice in age-related dysphonia, and the conditions that limit the extent of improvement. The central hypothesis is that targeted therapy tasks will improve voice, and that severity will determine the extent of improvement.

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This study is active but is not currently recruiting participants.

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Key information

Conditions

Presbylarynx Age-related Dysphonia

Age range

65 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona, United States

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Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Adults in age range who volunteer
  • Can understand and complete directions presented in English
  • People with voice disorder associated with advancing age will be included, including bowing, incomplete closure, mild edema, erythema, signs of laryngopharyngeal reflux.

Exclusion criteria

  • Laryngeal differences not related to aging (e.g., vocal fold paralysis, moderate-severe edema, lesions, leukoplakia, dysplasia, Parkinson disease)
  • Known history of stroke, brain injury, or other neurological disorder

Treatment and study plan

Voice therapy: respiratory

Behavioral

Abdominal voice onset

Voice therapy: glottal closure

Behavioral

Pulling/pushing task

Voice therapy: loud

Behavioral

Assertive task

Voice therapy: Semiocclusion

Behavioral

Semi-occluded vocal tract

Primary outcomes

  1. Relative glottal gap from laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy

    Time frame: End of year 3

  2. Perceived voice quality

    Time frame: End of year 3

    Participants will score the construct of "overall voice quality" using a technique called "sort and rate" in which listeners move icons representing each sound along a line. They align the icons so that best voices are on one side and worst voices are on the other. The distance between the icons represents how much better or worse one sound is than the other. There are no units to the scale. Rankings from all listeners are combined using the statistical technique of multidimensional scaling. The result is a ranked value for each sound file (i.e., voice production) that shows how different they are. There is no highest or lowest value.

  3. Acoustic measure of voice quality (Cepstral Peak Prominence)

    Time frame: End of year 3

Secondary outcomes

  1. Open quotient from laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy

    Time frame: End of year 3

  2. Speed index from laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy

    Time frame: End of year 3

  3. Maximum area declination ratefrom laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy

    Time frame: End of year 3

  4. Fundamental frequency standard deviation from laryngeal high-speed videoendoscopy

    Time frame: End of year 3

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Arizona

Other

Collaborators

  • Mayo Clinic

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2019
Primary completion
2026
Study completion
2026
First posted
Oct 11, 2018
Registry last updated
Oct 10, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

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This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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