Summary
Objectives
Palpation of the extrinsic laryngeal muscles is a common part of examination performed
by otolaryngologists and speech-language pathologists on individuals presenting with
voice complaints, thought to aid in diagnosis and treatment planning. While research
has identified a significant relationship between thyrohyoid tension and hyperfunctional
voice disorders, we are not aware of any studies exploring correlations between thyrohyoid
posture during palpation and the full spectrum of voice disorders. This study aims
to identify whether patterns in thyrohyoid posture at rest and during phonation can
be related to stroboscopic findings and voice disorder diagnoses.
Methods
A multidisciplinary team of three laryngologists and three speech-language pathologists
participated in data collection during 47 new patient visits for voice complaints.
Each patient underwent neck palpation and evaluation of thyrohyoid space at rest and
during phonation by two independent raters. Clinicians then used stroboscopy to rate
glottal closure and supraglottic activity as part of determining primary diagnosis.
Results
Strong inter-rater agreement was found for ratings of thyrohyoid space posture both
at rest (κ = 0.93) and during phonation (κ = 0.80). Findings revealed no significant
correlations between patterns of thyrohyoid posture and laryngoscopic findings or
primary diagnoses.
Conclusions
Findings suggest that the presented method of laryngeal palpation is a reliable measure
for assessing thyrohyoid posture at rest and during phonation. Lack of significant
correlation between palpation ratings and other collected measures suggests that this
method of palpation is not a useful tool for predicting laryngoscopic findings or
voice diagnoses. Laryngeal palpation may still be useful in predicting extrinsic laryngeal
muscle tension and guiding treatment planning; however, further research exploring
the validity of laryngeal palpation as a measure of extrinsic laryngeal muscle tension
is needed, as well as studies that include patient-reported measures and repeated
measurements of thyrohyoid posture over time to explore whether thyrohyoid posture
is impacted by other factors.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 17, 2023
Accepted:
March 6,
2023
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofFootnotes
Presented at: The Fall Voice Conference (Podium Presentation); October 8, 2022. San Francisco, CA
Identification
Copyright
© 2023 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
