The Study of Satisfaction of Voice Therapy in Patients with Voice Disorders

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Voice therapy is proven to be effective, but patients are reluctant to receive the therapy when physicians recommend it. This phenomenon may due to patients'lack of trust in or low satisfaction level of the therapy. This study aimed to evaluate patients'satisfaction level after voice therapy and identify factors that could increase the satisfaction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: First, the fraction of patients who were recommended voice therapy ahead and completed it was studied, and survey was conducted on those who finished ten voice therapy sessions. The patients'1) satisfaction level during the therapy, 2) satisfaction level about physician's explanation about the therapy, 3) willingness to recommend, 4) satisfaction level about the results were assessed, and was correlated with overall satisfaction level. In each category, patients' gender-, age-, and disease type-related differences were analyzed. RESULTS: Patients under 19 years old were most satisfied during the voice therapy; patients above 40 years old showed statistically significantly higher satisfaction level regarding satisfaction with physician explanation about treatments and with treatment results compared to other ages groups. Patients above 40 also showed the highest willingness to recommend. 26.5% of patients either refused to or discontinued voice therapy. 84.3% were satisfied with treatment results. Considering variabilities among factors, patients'satisfaction with physician explanation about treatment and willingness to recommend had positive correlation. CONCLUSION: Though 26.3% of patients received voice therapy when physicians recommended, patients who completed the therapy were overall satisfied.