| Abstract: |
This article is one in a series of articles sponsored by the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences (ANCDS) to address issues related to evidence-based practice guidelines in neurologic communication disorders. The purpose of this article is to evaluate voice outcome measurement in studies of intervention for unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP). This review addresses two outcome measurement issues: the types of outcome measures represented and the research methods by which outcome measurement is conducted and reported. This focus on outcome measurement was selected be-cause establishing reliable, feasible, and meaningful outcome measures is a critical step in the process of documenting treatment efficacy. Collecting and interpreting outcome data are key components of clinical and research practices for speech-language pathologists (SLPs). This article presents a review of outcome measurement in 92 studies published from 1990 through 2003. The report summarizes the distribution of intervention types and voice outcome measures and then addresses topics pertinent to the quality of measurement such as experimental control, psychometric control, replicability, and missing data. Recommendations are provided as to how outcome measurement methods might be strengthened to promote a stronger treatment efficacy literature. |
