14th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS-14)San Francisco, CA, USA |
Two groups of laryngeal cancer patients were studied.
Fourteen laryngectomized patients speaking with
tracheoesophageal prosthesis (TEP) were matched with
fourteen irradiated laryngeal speakers with preserved
larynx. To measure patients« QL we used; the European
Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality
of Life Core Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), the EORTC
Head and Neck module (EORTC QLQ - H&N 35), the
Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale (HAD) and a studyspecific
questionnaire. For the perceptual speech
evaluation we used visual analog scales.
The perceptual ratings of speech intelligibility,
voice quality and speech acceptability showed a
significant difference between the treatment groups. Both
the patients treated with radiotheraphy and the listeners
rated the irradiated laryngeal voices higher than the
tracheoesophageal speech. The laryngectomized patients
scored significantly better than the patients treated with
radical radiotheraphy on the question about hoarseness.
No other significant difference was found for the QL
functions and symptoms.
We conclude that, when patients treated with
laryngectomy as salvage surgery were compared to
patients treated with radiotherapy, only small differences
were found in QL and in patients« perceptual voice- and
speech self-evaluiation.
Bibliographic reference. Finizia, Caterina / Hammerlid, Eva / Westin, Thomas / Lindström, Jürgen (1999): "Quality of life and voice in patients with laryngeal carcinoma - a post-treatment comparision of laryngectomy vs. radiotherapy", In ICPhS-14, 807-810.