Researchers at Iowa State University, led by Elizabeth Stegemöller, set out to investigate whether group singing could help relieve some of the voice symptoms of Parkinson's disease and, at the same time, increase quality of life and whole health measures.
Singing is a culturally universal pastime that improves bonding and produces a sense of belonging that traditional therapies often cannot match. Additionally, singing can be considered an elongated type of speech with particular emphasis on rhythm, tempo, tonal changes and respiratory control.
Parkinson's therapy involving singing has been trialed in previous studies, but findings have been mixed. This study is the first to test whether improvements in symptoms can be affected by "dosage," in other words, can two singing sessions a week be more effective than one?
Therapy sessions involved vocal exercises, followed by renditions of popular songs, including "You Are My Sunshine" and "Show Me The Way To Go Home."
The researchers found that, after 2 months of singing, there were significant improvements in pitch duration, vocal loudness and swallow control.
Both groups (one session per week and twice per week) demonstrated a significant improvement in maximum inspiratory and expiratory pressure, as well as phonation time. Other voice measures improved, but not to a statistically significant degree.
Importantly, questionnaires that assessed the impact of voice changes on their quality of life (and their overall quality of life) showed significant improvements. Interestingly, there were no differences between the two groups; both benefited equally.