Significant associations between some factors possibly affecting voice quality and the results of the subjective and objective vocal quality assessment in patients with early glottis cancer (N = 50)
| Parameter | Present (mean/ SD) | Not present (mean/ SD) | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | |||
| - Fbefore therapy (male) 0 | 178.91 / 45.05 | ||
| - F0 before therapy (female) | 240.17 / 44.48 | 0.001 | |
| - Fafter therapy (male) 0 | 145.00 / 25.20 | ||
| - F0 before therapy (female) | 209.80 / 21.41 | 0.000 | |
| Anterior commissure involvement | |||
| - jitter before therapy | 5.39 / 2.74 | 3.52 / 3.53 | 0.044 |
| Tumor on both vocal folds | |||
| - jitter before therapy | 7.21 / 5.91 | 3.02 / 2.07 | 0.003 |
| - shimmer before therapy | 12.74 / 6.91 | 7.18 / 5.02 | 0.007 |
| Repeated biopsy | |||
| - F0 after therapy | 200.60 / 46.77 | 182.94 / 51.96 | 0.047 |
| Post-radiation changes | |||
| - maximum phonation time after | 18.39 / 7.55 | 30.00 / 2.82 | 0.039 |
| therapy | |||
| - Breathiness score after therapy | 0.02 / 0.15 | 0 | 0.029 |
| Complete vocal fold closure during | |||
| phonation | |||
| - maximum phonation time after therapy | 25.29 / 8.71 | 17.84 / 7.04 | 0.000 |
Characteristics of the patients in the study (N = 50)
| Patients’ characteristic | Data |
|---|---|
| Gender (male/female) | 44 / 6 |
| Age (mean/standard deviation, years) | 62.48 ± 9.99 |
| Smoking (before treatment) | |
| - non-smokers | 4 |
| - smokers | 30 |
| - ex-smokers* | 12 |
| - unknown | 4 |
| Type of biopsy | |
| - punch biopsy | 13 |
| - excisional biopsy | 36 |
| - unknown | 1 |
| Repeated biopsy | 15 |
| Glottic cancer | |
| - one vocal fold | 40 |
| - both vocal folds | 10 |
| - anterior commissure involvement | 7 |
Comparison of the subjective and objective assessments of vocal fold function and voice quality (N = 50)
| Parameter | Before treatment (mean / SD) | 3 months after treatment (mean / SD) | P |
|---|---|---|---|
| Subjective phoniatrician’s | |||
| assessment | |||
| - Grade Score | 1.95 / 0.71 | 1.35 / 0.61 | 0.000 |
| - Roughness Score | 1.91 / 0.71 | 1.28 / 0.63 | 0.000 |
| - Breathiness Score | 0.05 / 0.21 | 0.02 / 0.15 | 0.324 |
| Patient’s assessment of voice | |||
| quality (VAS; %) | 44.67 / 22.37 | 70.54 / 24.22 | 0.000 |
| Voice Handicap Index | |||
| Score | 49.67 / 30.09 | 22.46 / 23.56 | 0.000 |
| Post-radiation mucosa changes | |||
| - not present | |||
| - slight | 2 40 | ||
| - moderate | |||
| - not assessed | |||
| Vocal folds’ mobility | |||
| - normal | 47 | ||
| - impaired | 50 | 3 | |
| Vocal fold closure | |||
| - complete | 8 | ||
| - incomplete | 1 49 | 35 | 0.036 |
| - not assessed | 7 | ||
| F0 (Hz) | 187.63 / 80.38 | 152.71 / 32.46 | 0.000 |
| Jitter (%) | 3.79 / 3.47 | 2.84 / 4.11 | 0.148 |
| Shimmer (%) | 7.98 / 5.79 | 6.64 / 5.17 | 0.178 |
| Maximum phonation time (s) | 14.06 /7.21 | 18.98 / 7.8 | 0.032 |