Personalized symptom scores for people with one-sided vocal fold paralysis
Official title: CoPE II: Individualizing patient-reported outcomes in patient care for vocal fold paralysis in the clinic and in research
Funded at University of Wisconsin-Madison · NIH-11169094 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will create personalized ways to interpret patient questionnaires so people with one-sided vocal fold paralysis get care matched to their symptoms and preferences.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Wisconsin-Madison NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Madison, United States) |
| Project start | September 18, 2023 |
| Project end | August 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $555,111 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DC021431-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11169094 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults (age 21 and older) with unilateral vocal fold paralysis who have voice, swallowing, breathing, or related quality-of-life concerns and receive care at participating clinics.
✕Less likely to help
People without vocal fold paralysis, children under 21, or those not seen at participating sites would not be expected to benefit directly from this project.
What this research studies
You would complete the CoPE questionnaire about your voice, swallowing, breathing, and quality of life, and researchers will use your answers plus your medical background to tailor what counts as a meaningful change for you. The team will combine baseline severity, sociodemographic details, and symptom patterns with statistical models to produce an individualized minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for each person. They will test these personalized thresholds in clinic and research settings to see if they help doctors and patients make better treatment decisions. This work builds on a validated CoPE questionnaire and aims to make PROM scores more useful for individual care.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help your care team know whether a treatment made a meaningful difference for your voice, swallowing, or breathing based on your own situation.
How similar studies have gone: The team has previously developed and validated the CoPE patient questionnaire, but creating and using individualized MCID thresholds is a novel approach not yet widely implemented in routine care.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Francis, David O. — University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Study coordinator: Francis, David O.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.