Abstract
Summary
This study of 49 male laryngectomized patients was conducted to determine the relationship between degree of mastery of esophageal speech and various educational and psychologic factors. Three variables were found to correlate significantly with the final speech proficiency rating: initial speech proficiency rating, depression (MMPI scale 2), and educational level. The results indicate that age and the educational and psychologic variables investigated in this study are not as important to success in learning esophageal speech as indicated by previous authors. However, those variables may be important in individual cases.