Immediate Effect of Semi Occluded Vocal Tract Exercise (SOVTE) on Voice Quality in Elderly Patients: A Case Report

Dysphonia is a public health concern affecting communication, social functioning, and quality of life. It is particularly significant in older adults, who are already at higher risk of depression and social isolation. Further communication impairment can worsen these symptoms. As a result, treating dysphonia in older individuals is warranted and necessary. We reported a case of 85 years old male referred to our department with the changes in voice quality since 3-4 months. The acoustic perceptual and indirect laryngoscopy was performed which reveals the predominantly hoarse voice quality. We started with SOVT exercise and immediately after the SOVT exercise, a voice sample was recorded and analysed for six consecutive sessions. During six consecutive sessions of SOVT exercise, we observed a notable improvement in voice quality. Hence, our experience suggests that SOVT exercise can effectively treats dysphonia in the elderly population, with remarkable improvement in voice quality and underscores the challenges and limitations of voice therapy effectiveness for the elderly population. This case report provides the preliminary evidence and further studies are needed to establish its efficacy in large elderly clients with vocal fold pathologies. Key words: Elderly patient, Voice therapy, Maximum phonation time, Acoustic parameters, Semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE)