An Online Telepractice Model for the Prevention of Voice Disorders in Vocally Healthy Student Teachers Evaluated by a Smartphone Application.
Elizabeth U Grillo
PMID 28890933WHAT IT FOUND
In 21 vocally healthy student teachers, preliminary app-recorded voice measures changed after a voice prevention model delivered in person or online.
The main outcome, whether voice problems appeared during student teaching, is not reported yet.
Key findings
01The primary outcome was perceptual presence and frequency of a voice problem during student teaching, and the study is ongoing.
02Preliminary acoustic data showed higher morning F0s after the GVPM in the in-person and telepractice groups compared with their pre-GVPM morning F0s.
03At post-GVPM, jitter% was almost the same in the morning and evening for the in-person and telepractice groups, unlike the control group.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study is ongoing, so the primary outcome and significance of the preliminary changes were not reported. Only 21 participants completed the fall 2016 procedures, and the preliminary acoustic analysis included 18 women. Participants were placed into groups by availability, not random allocation, so baseline differences between groups cannot be ruled out. The control condition received only 1 week of vocal education and hygiene, while the training conditions received 4 weeks of GVPM. Preliminary results were descriptive and focused on F0 and jitter% for 18 women, not on the planned perceptual primary outcome. The participants were vocally healthy student teachers, so the study says nothing yet about teachers who already have voice disorders.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that telepractice prevents voice disorders in teachers. The paper reports preliminary acoustic changes only, the primary outcome is not reported, and the study is ongoing.