Assessment of the need for voice therapy after voice deepening surgery by means of self-evaluation method

This study aims to investigate whether male patients who have had their vocal pitch lowered by type 3 thyroplasty surgery need postoperative voice therapy by using the voice self-assessment method. The experimental group consisted of 31 male participants who had undergone a surgical operation with the complaint of high pitch, and the control group consisted of 31 male participants who had no complaints of voice disorder or pitch. A demographic information form, a Voice Handicap Index-10, and a Voice Quality Self-Assessment Questionnaire prepared in accordance with the subject and purpose of the study were delivered to each group via Google Form. As a result of the statistical analysis, the total scores of the Voice Quality Self-Assessment Questionnaire and Voice Handicap Index-10 and the physical, functional, and emotional subgroup scores of the scale were higher in the experimental group than in the control group, indicating the presence of a statistically highly significant difference between the groups (p=0,001). In another analysis, in the distribution of the answers given to the Self-Assessment of Voice Quality Questionnaire, the fact that the experimental group gave higher scores than the control group showed the presence of a statistically very highly significant difference between the groups (p<0,001). When the findings were analyzed, it was observed that individuals who underwent voice deepening surgery had hypophonological voice characteristics and accordingly experienced a decrease in voice quality. This situation causes individuals to be affected in emotional, physical, and functional areas while using their voices. At the end of the research, it was concluded that it is a necessity to support voice deepening surgery with voice therapy. Key words: Voice disorders, voice therapy, voice deepening