Quality of life in laryngectomees after prosthetic voice restoration

Background: In oncology, the paradigms for evaluating the results of treatment have shifted over the last few years. Preserving or restoring the quality of life has become an equally important aim of medical treatment as complete excision of the tumor and the duration of patient survival. Following laryngectomy, adequate speech restoration is one major aim of therapy. Different replacement strategies of voice production such as tracheoesophageal speech, esophageal speech, or electrolarynx are in use. The reporting department is able to restore speech in more than 90% of the patients; the majority uses tracheoesophageal speech with Provox voice prosthesis. The purpose of the study was to assess the quality of life in laryngectomees after successful voice restoration with Provox voice prosthesis.

Patients and methods: In a cross-sectional study 25 laryngectomees whose voice had been restored by tracheoesophageal puncture and Provox voice prosthesis were examined for quality of life. The Short Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36) was used as an international and highly standardized test.

Results: In comparison with a standardized healthy German male population, the patients showed more limited physical functioning as well as more restricted physical and emotional role functions. However, the laryngectomees did not attain lower scores for bodily pain. According to the patients' statements their social functioning, vitality, and their mental health were not excessively limited; mental health and vitality were even better than in patients with heart or renal failure and hepatitis C. General health was fairly similar to a standard population.

Conclusions: After laryngectomy, patients have deficits in physical and emotional well-being. Concepts of therapy should increasingly focus on how to deal with physical limitations and the patient's apperception. Successfully restored voice minimizes social, mental and vitality limitations. The SF-36 is a suitable instrument for quality of life assessment in order to define disease-dependent and individual limitations of quality of life in laryngectomees and should lead to individual interventions.