Efficacy of Flow Ball Phonation in Professional Voice Users

NCT ID: NCT06960772

Last Updated: 2025-05-07

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

144 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-05-08

Study Completion Date

2028-09-30

Brief Summary

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The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of flow ball phonation on the voice of professional voice users and elite vocal performers, both with and without functional voice disorders. Given the substantial vocal demands inherent to this population and their reliance on the voice for occupational purposes, this intervention may represent a valuable approach for the prevention and/or treatment voice disorders.

Detailed Description

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Background. Due to the high vocal demands, professional voice users (e.g. teachers) and elite vocal performers (e.g. singers) are risk populations for developing voice disorders. High-quality voice research in these vulnerable populations is highly needed for effective and efficient treatment and prevention of voice disorders. The flow ball (FB) is a promising innovative voice therapy device to perform semi-occluded vocal tract exercises (SOVTE) with the extra advantage of providing real-time visual feedback of the airflow. Despite this important advantage, strong efficacy studies of an FB intervention program are lacking.

Objective. To investigate the immediate-, short- and long-term effects of an SOVTE intervention with the FB on the phonation of professional voice users with (treatment) and without (prevention) voice disorders and to compare it with the 'treatment as usual' straw phonation (SP) and a sham condition, using a longitudinal randomized sham-controlled trial (RCT).

Methods. Subjects will be randomly assigned into an FB group, an SP group or a control (sham) group. They will receive a short-term intensive voice intervention of 3 weeks, combining both guided therapy/training sessions and independent practice at home. A flexible strobovideolaryngoscopy and a multidimensional voice assessment will be performed by assessors blinded to group allocation and study phase. Assessments will be performed two times before the intervention (pre 1 and pre 2), immediately after the intensive intervention (post 1) and at 3 weeks (follow-up 1) and 3 months (follow-up 2) follow-up. The sham group will use the same FB device but no phonation will be involved.

Conditions

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Prevention of Voice Disorders in Professional Voice Users Treatment of Functional Voice Disorders in Professional Voice Users

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Participants Investigators

Study Groups

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Flow Ball

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Flow Ball Intervention

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants receive an intensive intervention using the Flow Ball device over 3 weeks (a total of 5 hours), consisting of weekly:

* 1 in-person guided session of 30 minutes
* 2 guided online sessions of 15 minutes each (via teleconsult)
* On the remaining 4 days of the week, participants perform independent training at home: 5 minutes, twice daily. This training is recorded using the app 'MyMedicoach'

Straw Phonation

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Straw Phonation Intervention

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants receive an intensive intervention using a straw over 3 weeks (a total of 5 hours), consisting of weekly:

* 1 in-person guided session of 30 minutes
* 2 guided online sessions of 15 minutes each (via teleconsult)
* On the remaining 4 days of the week, participants perform independent training at home: 5 minutes, twice daily. This training is recorded using the app 'MyMedicoach'

Sham Intervention

Group Type SHAM_COMPARATOR

Sham Intervention

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Participants receive an intensive intervention over 3 weeks (a total of 5 hours), consisting of weekly:

* 1 in-person guided session of 30 minutes
* 2 guided online sessions of 15 minutes each (via teleconsult)
* On the remaining 4 days of the week, participants perform independent training at home: 5 minutes, twice daily. This training is recorded using the app 'MyMedicoach' The sham intervention uses breathing exercises through the Flow Ball, no phonation will be involved.

Interventions

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Flow Ball Intervention

Participants receive an intensive intervention using the Flow Ball device over 3 weeks (a total of 5 hours), consisting of weekly:

* 1 in-person guided session of 30 minutes
* 2 guided online sessions of 15 minutes each (via teleconsult)
* On the remaining 4 days of the week, participants perform independent training at home: 5 minutes, twice daily. This training is recorded using the app 'MyMedicoach'

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Straw Phonation Intervention

Participants receive an intensive intervention using a straw over 3 weeks (a total of 5 hours), consisting of weekly:

* 1 in-person guided session of 30 minutes
* 2 guided online sessions of 15 minutes each (via teleconsult)
* On the remaining 4 days of the week, participants perform independent training at home: 5 minutes, twice daily. This training is recorded using the app 'MyMedicoach'

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Sham Intervention

Participants receive an intensive intervention over 3 weeks (a total of 5 hours), consisting of weekly:

* 1 in-person guided session of 30 minutes
* 2 guided online sessions of 15 minutes each (via teleconsult)
* On the remaining 4 days of the week, participants perform independent training at home: 5 minutes, twice daily. This training is recorded using the app 'MyMedicoach' The sham intervention uses breathing exercises through the Flow Ball, no phonation will be involved.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* All genders
* All ethnicities
* 18 - 60 years
* Diagnosis of a functional voice disorder
* Professional voice users


* All genders
* All ethnicities
* 18 - 60 years
* Professional voice users

Exclusion Criteria

* Diagnosis of an organic voice disorder
* Current participation in voice therapy
* Previous phonosurgical interventions
* Pregnancy
* Smoking
* Nasal or ear diseases
* Neurological disorders

OBJECTIVE 2: PREVENTION


* Current or previous diagnosis of a voice disorder
* Current or previous participation in voice therapy
* Previous phonosurgical interventions
* Pregnancy
* Smoking
* Nasal or ear diseases
* Neurological disorders
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

60 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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University Ghent

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Evelien D'haeseleer

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University Ghent

Locations

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Ghent University

Ghent, East-Flanders, Belgium

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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Belgium

Central Contacts

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Casey Dewanckele

Role: CONTACT

+32491547192

Facility Contacts

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Casey Dewanckele

Role: primary

+32491547192

Other Identifiers

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ONZ-2025-0017

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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