Resources

Bridge2Practice 

Bridge2Practice is an online educational platform designed to bridge the gap from classroom to clinic. This platform offers students unlimited practice in clinical assessment of real-world cases. In doing so, it more effectively prepares students for clinical practice.

Winner of the Wharburton Q-Stars Bronze award in 2015 and with almost 10,000 users to date, this unique application is designed specifically for learning practical skills in health and other service domains.

Key benefits of Bridge2Practice include:

• Equipping health educators to design engaging, skills-based training
• Honing student skills through unlimited practice with real-world cases
• Elevating practice readiness by boosting competency and confidence
• Opportunities for self-reflection, peer, and automated expert feedback
• Performance analytics for effective teaching insights
• It's free to use!

Bridge2Practice can be used for developing practical skills across a range of health disciplines including, but not limited to, speech-language pathology, physiotherapy, and exercise and sports physiology.

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Auditory-perceptual rating tools

Bridge2Practice features a freely available educational tool that enables students to practice using auditory-perceptual rating tools, CAPE-V (consensus auditory-perceptual evaluation of voice) and GRBAS (grade, roughness, breathiness, asthenia, and strain).

Uniquely, learners can practice using these tools to evaluate a variety of real-world recordings¹ and receive instant feedback comparing their assessment with expert evaluations.

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Laryngoscopy rating tool  

The laryngoscopy rating tool is a freely available educational tool in Bridge2Practice that can offer learners unlimited practice in the evaluation of laryngoscopic examinations. 

Note for educators: To set up this learning activity, you will need to have your own laryngoscopic videos. Additionally, you will need to ensure you have obtained permissions from patients to use these videos for educational purposes. 

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Assessment of laryngeal and voice disorders

Below are links to tools designed to facilitate the assessment of individuals. Sydney Voice Lab routinely uses these tools in clinical practice and research:

• Assessment recording sheet:² Streamlines the documentation process by providing a structured format for capturing patient data during assessments.
  

• Rainbow passage:³ A standardised reading passage used in the acoustic analysis of voice disorders.

• CAPE-V form:⁴ A structured assessment form with standardised phrases that provides a systematic method for the evaluation and documentation of auditory-perceptual vocal attributes, thereby enhancing reliability and consistency in voice quality judgments.
  
  
• A recommended framework for the classification of voice disorders:⁵ A visual guide categorising voice disorders into muscle tension, organic, and functional types. It also, clearly outlines subcategories where applicable.
  
  
• Speech-language pathology primary contact telehealth (SLPPC-T) assessment:⁶ A visual guide for a SLPPC-T assessment of voice.

Acoustic analysis normative data 

Acoustic analysis normative data provides essential benchmarks for understanding typical voice characteristics across different populations. Whether you are engaged in clinical practice or research in the field of laryngeal and voice disorders, the normative values provided in this section serve as a fundamental reference for evaluation and comparison. 

Patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) 

Below are links to PROMs that Sydney Voice Lab routinely uses in clinical practice and research.

• Voice Handicap Index (VHI-10) (see Table VII):⁷ This tool helps to assess the impact of voice disorders on an individual’s life, monitor changes over time, and evaluate the effectiveness of various treatments.
  
  
• Singing VHI (SVHI-10) (see Table III):⁸ This variant of the VHI helps to evaluate the impact of voice disorders on an individual’s ability to sing and their singing-related quality of life.
  
  
• Paediatric VHI (pVHI) (see Appendix B):⁹ Adapted from the adult VHI, this index is tailored to assess the impact of voice disorders on children, helping paediatric clinicians to better understand and manage these conditions in younger patients.
  
  
• Glottal Function Index (GFI) (see Figure):¹⁰ This index measures the perceived effort and discomfort associated with voice production, aiding in the assessment of glottal efficiency and function in individuals with voice disorders.
  
  
• Cough Severity Index (CSI) (see Appendix B):¹¹ This index measures the severity and impact of chronic cough on daily activities.
  
  
• Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) (see Table 1):¹² This index provides a useful indicator of laryngopharyngeal reflux in patients with related voice disorders and facilitates the tracking of symptom resolution.
  
  
• Newcastle Laryngeal Hypersensitivity Questionnaire (LHQ) (see appendix II - John Hunter Hospital Laryngeal Paraesthesia Questionnaire):¹³ This questionnaire is designed to assess symptoms of laryngeal hypersensitivity, as it appears in chronic cough and other sensory hyperresponsiveness disorders.

PROMs normative data 

Normative data provides essential benchmarks for interpreting your PROMs. Whether you are engaged in clinical practice or research in the field of laryngeal and voice disorders, the normative values provided in this section serve as a fundamental reference for the evaluation of individuals' health and wellbeing. 

Below are links to tools tailored for scientific study and clinical investigation that Sydney Voice Lab routinely uses in research:

• Voice Onset Analysis Tool (VOAT):¹⁴ A Python software program which facilitates segmentation of the vowel phonation onset from the acoustic signal. The VOAT offers filtering options to facilitate automatic voice onset detection and enables file saving to Excel for further processing as required. As a semi-automatic tool, the VOAT allows the user to manually select segments of interest and apply voice activity detection. This tool also has batch processing capability, so that several files can be automatically analysed simultaneously. Our lab has used the VOAT to differentiate voice onset behaviour across different voice qualities.¹⁵
  
  
• Newcastle assessment of pitch discrimination (NeAP):¹⁶ A reliable clinical and research tool, the NeAP assesses an individual’s pitch discrimination ability. It is a computer-based task which requires the listener to attend to 40 pairs of sounds and indicate whether the first or second tone was higher in pitch, or if they sound the same. Given the link between perception and production, the NeAP shows great potential for increasing clinical and research-based applications. Our lab has used this tool to demonstrate that people with voice disorders have significantly decreased pitch detection when compared with non-voice disordered subjects.¹⁷