The Impact of Patient Factors on Attendance at Remote Telehealth Voice Therapy.

Objective: Although voice therapy is a highly effective treatment for voice disorders, benefits are diminished by poor adherence to appointments. Remote telehealth delivery of therapy may address this problem by improving access. This study investigates attendance at remote telehealth voice therapy and evaluates potential correlation with patient demographics and socioeconomic status.

Methods: Retrospective review of all adult patients referred for telehealth voice therapy between April 2020-November 2021. Evaluated patient demographics including referral diagnosis, health insurance status and interpreter use, were obtained from medical records. Area Deprivation Index scores served as proxy for socioeconomic status. Multivariate analysis examined relationships between patient factors and attendance.

Results: Of 423 patients referred for telehealth voice therapy, 220 (52%) attended more than one therapy session, 98 (23%) attended one, and 105 (25%) never attended therapy. Multivariate analysis did not identify significant correlations between telehealth attendance and sociodemographic factors including interpreter use, insurance status, and socioeconomic status, even after adjusting for ethnicity and primary language.

Conclusion: Over half of patients referred to telehealth voice therapy participated in multiple sessions and 75% attended at least one session. Telehealth voice therapy attendance was not negatively impacted by public health insurance and patient race and socioeconomic status did not impact attendance. Telehealth voice therapy may minimize potential barriers to care in susceptible populations.

Level of evidence: IV.