Perceptual and acoustic evaluation of the traqueoesophageal voice

Purpose:  to assess the efficacy of the tracheoesophageal prosthesis for speech rehabilitation in total laryngectomy patients, correlating perceptual, and acoustics aspects related to voice.

Methods:  7 men with age range from 43 to 63 years, submitted to total laryngectomy using a indwelling tracheoesophageal voice prosthesis at “Arnaldo Vieira de Carvalho” Cancer Institute. Perceptual evaluation included voice quality and speech intelligibility, aerodynamic evaluation included maximum phonation time (MPT), and acoustics variable evaluation included short-term parameters.

Results:  the majority of the patients showed hoarse-strain vocal quality, low pitch, and adequate loudness. MPT average was 15.01 seconds. The medians for objective vocal parameters were fundamental frequency (96.82 Hz) and NHR (0.61%).

Conclusion:  the consistent use of indwelling voice prosthesis showed a high success in vocal rehabilitation, promoting an effective oral communication.

KEYWORDS:
Speech; Alaryngeal; Voice Quality; Laryngectomy; Rehabilitation; Larynx; Artificial; Speech Acoustics; Speech Intelligibility