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  • Title: Assessing self-reported measures of voice disability in tracheoesophageal speakers.
    Author: Day AM, Doyle PC.
    Journal: J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg; 2010 Dec; 39(6):762-8. PubMed ID: 21144376.
    Abstract:
    OBJECTIVE: current instruments for evaluating quality of life in individuals treated for head and neck cancer often contain a speech-related item; however, none provide a dedicated measure of self-perceived voice-related quality of life. Therefore, this study sought to assess the utility of the Voice-Related Quality of Life (V-RQOL) instrument in a group of individuals who use tracheoesophageal (TE) speech following total laryngectomy for laryngeal cancer. DESIGN: this exploratory, retrospective study accessed individuals who used TE speech as their primary mode of communication. SETTING: Data were collected at a university centre. METHODS: fifteen male and 15 female TE speakers were age matched (± 3 years) and their V-RQOL scores were evaluated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: the self-report V-RQOL was employed to evaluate participants' perceptions of their voice-related quality of life. The V-RQOL yields two subscales, social-emotional functioning and physical functioning, as well as a total score. RESULTS: analyses revealed no statistically significant differences across gender, thus permitting descriptive evaluation of group data. Data suggest that varied degrees of voice-related disability exist for both physical and social-emotional functioning, with participants generally reporting better social-emotional scores. CONCLUSIONS: based on these preliminary data, the V-RQOL may offer an easy and time-efficient clinical measure of postlaryngectomy voice disability for alaryngeal speakers. These findings suggest that the V-RQOL may be used with this clinical population and may serve to identify voice-related deficits that can be targeted for intervention as part of a patient's postlaryngectomy rehabilitation.
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