Communication after laryngectomy. An assessment of patient satisfaction.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the satisfaction of patients with their current method of alaryngeal communication. To focus primarily on the patients' perception of their own speech.


METHODS
A retrospective review of patients who underwent total laryngectomy for malignancy identified 4 groups of patients. A survey using a mailed questionnaire was used to compare groups.


METHODS
Tertiary care university hospital, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.


METHODS
Forty-seven patients underwent total laryngectomy for cancer and survived. Thirty-one of the 47 patients responded to the survey. Patients were divided into 4 groups by their current method of communication: (1) tablet writers; (2) esophageal speech; (3) electrolarynx; and (4) tracheoesophageal speech.


METHODS
Satisfaction with communication, satisfaction with speech quality, ability to communicate over telephone, limitation of interaction with others, and satisfaction with quality of life.


RESULTS
Patients in group 4 were significantly more satisfied with their speech (P < .001), perceived their speech to be of better quality (P < .001), had improved ability to communicate over the telephone (P < .001), and had less limitation of their interactions with others (P < .004). Patients in group 4 also rated their overall quality of life higher (P = .23).


CONCLUSIONS
Although many studies in the past have demonstrated the objective superiority of tracheoesophageal speech compared with other methods of alaryngeal communication, most studies have focused on the intelligibility of speech judged by listeners. This study demonstrates that patients who use tracheoesophageal speech rate their own speech significantly higher than patients who use other methods and most likely have an overall superior quality of life.
Clements
K S
KS
Department of Otolaryngology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston 77555-0521, USA.
Rassekh
C H
CH
Seikaly
H
H
Hokanson
J A
JA
Calhoun
K H
KH
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003142:Communication; D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007825:Laryngectomy / Q000534:rehabilitation* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007831:Larynx, Artificial; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013072:Speech, Esophageal; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013781:Texas