Terapia Vocal No Contexto Da Pandemia Do Covid-19; Orientações Para A Prática Clínica.
Adrián Castillo-Allendes, Francisco Contreras-Ruston, Lady Cantor and 8 others
PMID 32917460WHAT IT FOUND
Voice therapy carries high aerosol transmission risk.
Telepractice is recommended to protect clinicians. If in-person care is essential, N95 masks and strict protocols are required. Voice therapy is not urgent; weigh risks before treating in person.
Key findings
01Voice assessment and therapy are classified as aerosol-generating procedures, placing clinicians at moderate to very high occupational risk.
02Telepractice is recommended as a low-risk alternative for voice therapy and assessment during the pandemic.
03In-person voice therapy is not considered urgent and should be postponed if appropriate personal protective equipment is unavailable.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The recommendations are based on expert consensus and existing guidelines, not on new clinical trial data. The authors note that scientific evidence regarding voice therapy during the pandemic was limited at the time of writing. No patients or other health professionals were included in the development of the guidelines, contrary to some standard recommendations.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The study received no funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these guidelines as evidence that voice therapy is ineffective or unsafe in all contexts. They are expert recommendations for infection control during a specific pandemic phase, not tested clinical interventions for voice disorders themselves.