Randomized Controlled Trial of Voice Therapy on Children with Vocal Nodules

描述（由申请人提供）：声音障碍使500多万学龄儿童面临更大的风险，包括学习成绩差、社会发展功能障碍和更高的犯罪活动参与率。据报道，与小儿声带功能障碍相关的最常见病变是声带小结，其存在于高达21%的普通人群中，并与行为问题和生活质量低下相关。95%的耳鼻喉科医生建议在语音语言病理学家的指导下对声带小结进行语音治疗。这种最广泛使用的治疗与儿科嗓音障碍相关的最常见病变的方法尚未在前瞻性对照试验中进行严格测试，以确定它是否真正具有超过相关风险的益处。 一项前瞻性临床试验旨在解决声音治疗是否可以改善明显患有声带结节的儿童与声音相关的生活质量，这是制定循证治疗计划以优化这一庞大高危儿童群体的结果的合乎逻辑的一步。目前还没有充分的，前瞻性的，对照研究，比较声音治疗与控制的儿童谁提出了明显的结节。我们的目标是通过随机、安慰剂对照研究来弥补这一缺陷，该研究概述于以下拨款申请中。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Voice disorders place over five million school-aged children at increased risk for inferior school performance, dysfunctional social development, and higher participation in criminal activities. The lesions most commonly associated with pediatric vocal dysfunction are reported to be vocal fold nodules, which are present in up to 21% of the general population, and are associated with behavioral problems and inferior quality of life. Voice therapy with a speech-language pathologist is recommended by 95% of otolaryngologists for management of vocal fold nodules. This most widely used treatment for the most common lesion associated with pediatric voice disorders has not been rigorously tested in prospective controlled trials to determine whether it truly has benefits that outweigh the associated risks. A prospective clinical trial addressing whether voice therapy improve voice-related quality of life for children with apparent vocal fold nodules is a logical step toward developing an evidence-based treatment plan to optimize outcomes for this sizable population of at-risk children. There are currently no well-powered, prospective, controlled studies which compare voice therapy versus control in children who present with apparent nodules. Our goal is to remedy this deficiency through the randomized, placebo controlled study outlined in the following grant proposal.