The effect of vocal hygiene education for patients with vocal polyp

Abstract

The authors aimed to assess the effect of vocal hygiene education for patients suffering with vocal polyp and to discover the meaningful factors that can predict better outcomes with performing vocal hygiene. Voice evaluation and vocal hygiene education were provided to 340 consecutive patients with vocal polyp. Three months later, 175 of the 340 patients completed a follow-up evaluation. According to the change in polyp size, these patients were divided into two groups: the "improvement" and the "no improvement." The effect of vocal hygiene was assessed. Eight parameters were compared between these two groups. The "improvement" group was composed of 20% of the 340 patients and 38% of the 175 patients. Multivariate analyses demonstrated that nonsmokers with a small polyp had the greatest possibility of improvement with vocal hygiene and so avoid unnecessary surgery. Patients who do not smoke and who have a polyp that is small in size have a much better chance to improve their voice by performing vocal hygiene.