Voice quality after endoscopic laser surgery and radiotherapy for early glottic cancer: objective measurements emphasizing the Voice Handicap Index.
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We analyzed the functional outcome and self-evaluation of the voice of patients with T1 glottic carcinoma treated with endoscopic laser surgery and radiotherapy. We performed an objective voice evaluation, as well as a physical, emotional and functional well being assessment of 19 patients treated with laser surgery and 18 patients treated with radiotherapy. Voice quality is affected both by surgery and radiotherapy. Voice parameters only show differences in the maximum phonation time between both treatments. Results in the Voice Handicap Index show that radiotherapy has less effect on patient voice quality perception. There is a reduced impact on the patient's perception of voice quality after radiotherapy, despite there being no significant differences in vocal quality between radiotherapy and laser cordectomy. (+info)
The prevalence and impact of voice problems in primary school teachers.
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BACKGROUND: Teachers have been identified as at increased risk of developing an occupational voice disorder. Primary school teachers are particularly at risk as they have little opportunity for voice rest during the working day. AIM: To analyse the prevalence and impact of voice problems in primary school teachers in the workplace. METHOD: An 85-item questionnaire was administered to 550 primary school teachers from 42 schools in the greater Dublin area. RESULTS: A response rate of 55% was obtained. Results suggest that 27% suffered from a voice problem, 53% an 'intermittent' voice problem, while only 20% had no voice problem. Teachers of the junior classes were more vulnerable to developing a voice problem than those of senior classes. The most common symptoms were 'dry throat' and 'vocal fatigue'. CONCLUSION: Voice disorders were very common in our study of primary school teachers. Those most frequently affected taught the younger classes. Further intervention is needed to identify and minimize risk factors and reduce the negative impact of voice on the individual and on work. (+info)
The benefits of combining acoustic and electric stimulation for the recognition of speech, voice and melodies.
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Fifteen patients fit with a cochlear implant in one ear and a hearing aid in the other ear were presented with tests of speech and melody recognition and voice discrimination under conditions of electric (E) stimulation, acoustic (A) stimulation and combined electric and acoustic stimulation (EAS). When acoustic information was added to electrically stimulated information performance increased by 17-23 percentage points on tests of word and sentence recognition in quiet and sentence recognition in noise. On average, the EAS patients achieved higher scores on CNC words than patients fit with a unilateral cochlear implant. While the best EAS patients did not outperform the best patients fit with a unilateral cochlear implant, proportionally more EAS patients achieved very high scores on tests of speech recognition than unilateral cochlear implant patients. (+info)
Comparison of magnetic resonance imaging-based vocal tract area functions obtained from the same speaker in 1994 and 2002.
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Voice restoration following total laryngectomy by tracheoesophageal prosthesis: effect on patients' quality of life and voice handicap in Jordan.
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Quality of life and voice in patients treated for early laryngeal cancer.
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OBJECTIVES: To evaluate quality of life and voice in patients previously treated for early laryngeal cancer versus healthy controls and to assess correlations between demographic and cancer characteristics and posttreatment quality of life and voice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A total of 49 patients diagnosed with early (Tis-T2N0) laryngeal carcinoma, treated by radiotherapy or endoscopic surgery at least 6 months before, who were alive and free of recurrence formed study group. Postservice with questionnaires was accomplished. Quality of life was evaluated using Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36), Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) Scale, voice quality--by Voice Handicap Index (VHI). Normative data were obtained from database or concurrently assessed healthy adult subjects. RESULTS: Hoarseness was the most frequent complain. Majority of patients consider their health as fair (69.4%), one third--good or excellent. The means of summary of SF-36 scores for physical and mental health differ significantly from normative age-matched population (P<0.001). Emotional distress on HAD scale was found in 40.8% of patients vs. 17.0% of healthy controls. Majority (87.8%) of patients rated their voice abnormal; vast majority of them had slight to moderate dysfunction. Mean VHI scores were slight elevated for patients and differed significantly from healthy ones. Correlation analysis revealed a significant relationship between patients' physical health and some demographic-clinic factors. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of life in patients previously treated for early laryngeal cancer was worse than healthy subjects. Psychiatric morbidity was indicated in around of one-third of the patients. Voice changes were reported in most patients with low handicap level. Physical health perception was better for patients with higher grade of cancer differentiation, not using alcohol, and treated first. (+info)