Vocal Rehabilitation after Radiotherapy for Laryngeal Cancer—Pilot Study

Abstract

Objective: Learning more about to what extent voice therapy with a speech-language pathologist is an effective method for improved vocal function for patients with laryngeal cancer. Results from self-evalutation forms as well as temporal and acoustical measures will be presented. The pilot participants are selected from a larger longitudinal study. Method: Twenty patients were randomized to vocal rehabilitation (VRG) or to a control group (CG). Text reading and sustained vowel production, S-SECEL (The Swedish Self Evaluation of Communication Experiences after Laryngeal Cancer) and vocal fatigue were recorded pre- and post-voice therapy, 1 and 6 months after radiotherapy. Results: Maximum phonation time increased for CG and decreased for VRG, but was longer than for CG. Vocal fatigue, assessed on a VA-scale, as well as mean F0 decreased for both groups. Mean values of the total S-SECEL score increased for CG and decreased with 16.7% for VRG indicating a better vocal function. For CG shimmer increased with 0.03 dB and decreased for VRG with 0.13 dB, indicating an improved voice quality. Mean harmonic-to-noise ratio improved for VRG while it deteriorated for CG. Conclusion: Our results correspond with earlier studies on voice rehabilitation, showing an improved self-evaluated communication (S-SECEL) for VRG, which is also shown in the acoustic measures of voice quality. However, the expected result, with a more pronounced improvement for VRG in most dimensions is not supported.