Voice outcomes after radiotherapy treatment for early glottic cancer: assessment using multidimensional tools.
BACKGROUND
This is the first prospective study to use instrumental and both clinician- and client-rated auditory-perceptual measures to examine voice and voice-related quality of life changes in patients after curative radiotherapy for early glottic cancer.


METHODS
Thirty patients undergoing curative radiotherapy treatment for early glottic cancer completed the following: 3 voice tasks for acoustic, aerodynamic, and auditory-perceptual voice measures (therapist-rated); a patient self-report rating of voice quality; and a voice-related quality of life assessment before and 12 months after radiotherapy.


RESULTS
Patients' perceptions of their voice quality and their voice-related quality of life significantly improved posttreatment, as did acoustic, aerodynamic, and auditory-perceptual voice measures. Mean speaking fundamental frequency did not change significantly, although breathiness and strain in the voice recordings were demonstrably reduced.


CONCLUSIONS
In describing postradiotherapy voices in this study, pertinent measures of voice outcomes have been established, setting the benchmark for comparison in future cohort studies.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005260:Female; D005931:Glottis; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology; D014833:Voice Quality / Q000502:physiology*