Speech assessment of patients using three types of indwelling tracheo-oesophageal voice prostheses.
A multidisciplinary prospective study compared speech acceptability between three types of indwelling tracheo-oesophageal voice prostheses. Twenty male laryngectomees took part over five years, using 42 prostheses. Speech was assessed on a discrete scale by trained and untrained personnel. The majority scored in the mid-range for each assessor. The kappa coefficient was used to test similarity between assessors, and for all pairings agreement was significant (p < 0.05). The speech and language therapist tended to give higher scores and the patient lower. A relationship was found between patients' ages categorized by decade and the surgeon's score alone. This relationship held for Groningen high resistance and Provox prostheses individually too (p < 0.05). The untrained assessed similarly to the professionals--humans are all voice listeners. The analysis suggests surgeons find tracheo-oesophageal speech in older patients better than in younger ones; or make more allowances for the elderly. There was a trend for Provox prostheses to produce the best scores.
Heaton
J M
JM
Department of Otolaryngology, Sheffield University, UK.
Sanderson
D
D
Dunsmore
I R
IR
Parker
A J
AJ
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006801:Humans; D007831:Larynx, Artificial; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010036:Otolaryngology; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013060:Speech; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D013066:Speech-Language Pathology