Verbal performance of total laryngectomized patients rehabilitated with esophageal speech and tracheoesophageal speech: impacts on patient quality of life

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic and clinical data of the ES and TES groups

Data	ES (n=32)	TES (n=35)	P-value
Age (years)
<60	3 (9.3%)	7 (20%)
>60	29 (90.7%)	28 (80%)	0.30
Sex
Male	31 (96.9%)	34 (97.8%)	1.00
Female	1 (3.1%)	1 (2.2%)
Time since TL
Mean±SD (years)	9±3.1	5.1±4.12	<0.001
cT Stage
III	18 (56.2%)	22 (62.8%)	0.62
IV	14 (42.8%)	13 (37.2%)
Neck dissection
No	14 (43.7%)	11 (31.4%)	0.32
Yes	18 (56.3%)	24 (68.6%)
Adjuvant treatment
No	24 (75%)	29 (82.8%)	0.55
Yes	8 (25%)	6 (17.2%)
Working
No	24 (75%)	22 (62.8%)	0.29
Yes	8 (25%)	13 (37.2%)
Education
Primary	14 (43.8%)	12 (34.3%)	0.31
Secondary	13 (40.6%)	12 (34.3%)
High school	5 (15.6%)	11 (31.4%)
Marital status
Married/cohabiting	24 (75%)	26 (74.3%)	1.00
Single	8 (25%)	9 (25.7%)

Abbreviations: ES, esophageal speech; TES, tracheoesophageal speech; TEP, tracheoesophageal prosthesis.

Table 2 Acoustic analysis of the two groups

Acoustic parameter	ES mean±SD	TEP mean±SD	P-value
F0 mean value (Hz)	133.09±2	119.1±3.3	<0.001
Jitter mean value (%)	3.91±2.36	2.92±1.95	0.06
Shimmer mean value (%)	4.45±1.81	3.96±2.91	0.41
NHR (dB)	0.43±0.21	0.31±0.14	0.007
MPT (seconds)	2.02±0.38	10.64±0.28	<0.001

Abbreviations: ES, esophageal speech; TEP, tracheoesophageal prosthesis; NHR, noise-to-harmonic ratio; MPT, maximum phonation time.

Table 3 Patient-related outcomes

Questionnaire	ES mean±SD	TEP mean±SD	P-value mean±SD
VHI subscales
Emotional	8.15±8.67	7.1±3.78	0.51
Physical	11.76±5.54	9.8±4.8	0.11
Functional	14.24±7.73	10.54±5.07	0.02
Total	37.10±23.02	29±15.87	0.09
V-RQOL subscales
Social-Emotional	4.45±5.4	3.62±2.4	0.41
Functional	6.23±4.5	2.9±1.0	0.001
Total	10.1±10.8	8.5±2.3	0.39
VPQ subscales
Physical	12.1±5.9	11.65±0.9	0.65
Socioeconomic	14.4±4.7	11.8±6.7	0.07
Total	29.2±11.3	23.4±11.9	0.052

Abbreviations: ES, esophageal speech; TEP, tracheoesophageal prosthesis; VHI, voice handicap index; VPQ, voice performance questionnaire; V-RQOL, voice-related quality of life.

Table 4 Correlation between demographic-clinical variables and patient-reported outcomes

Data	N	VHI mean±SD	P	V-RQOL mean±SD	P	VPQ mean±SD	P
Age (years)
<60	10	37±22.5	0.40	12±10.1	0.27	28±13.2	0.23
>60	57	30±24.6		9±7.5		23±12.1
Sex
Male	65	30±16.2	0.36	10±8.7	0.74	24±13.3	0.59
Female	2	34±3.5		12±1.4		29±1.4
Time since TL
>3 years	42	28±15.1	0.008	8.5±3.6	0.007	23±10.8	0.061
≤3 years	35	35±20.3		12±5.1		28±12.3
cT Stage
III	40	33±21.1	0.70	11±6.2	0.54	26±13.5	0.52
IV	27	35±20.3		10±7.1		24±11.6
Neck dissection
No	25	30±18.3	0.69	11±8.7	0.64	24±11.7	0.72
Yes	42	32±22.1		12±9.3		25±10.8
Adjuvant treatment
No	63	30±18.4	0.28	10±8.9	0.70	24±11.3	0.24
Yes	14	36±21.3		11±9.1		28±12.4
Working
No	46	38±22.3	0.22	12±10.8	0.15	27±13.5	0.56
Yes	21	31±20.1		8.5±4.2		25±12.1
Education
Primary-Secondary	51	41±21.2	0.002	13±9.3	0.001	30±13.6	0.03
High school	16	28±12.8		7±4.8		22±11.0
Marital status
Married/cohabiting	50	28±16.7	0.33	9±6.3	0.11	28±12.1	0.22
Single	17	33±22.1		12±7.8		24±10.3
Speech
ES	32	37±23.0	0.09	10±10.8	0.39	29±11.3	0.52
TEP	35	29±15.8		8.5±2.3		23±11.9

Abbreviations: ES, esophageal speech; TEP, tracheoesophageal prosthesis.