Validation and assessment of voice-related quality of life in Indian patients undergoing total laryngectomy and primary tracheoesophageal puncture

• Published in: Head & neck Vol. 31; no. 1; pp. 37 - 44
• Main Authors: Deshpande, Mandar S., Kakade, Anagha C., Chaukar, Devendra A., Gore, Vinod T., Pai, Prathamesh S., Chaturvedi, Pankaj, D'Cruz, Anil K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01.01.2009; Wiley
• Subjects: Adult; Age Factors; Biological and medical sciences; Cross-Sectional Studies; Humans; India; Laryngeal Neoplasms - rehabilitation; Laryngeal Neoplasms - surgery; Laryngectomy - rehabilitation; Larynx, Artificial; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Orthopedic surgery; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Punctures; Quality of Life; Reproducibility of Results; Speech, Esophageal; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Surveys and Questionnaires; TEP; tracheoesophageal prosthesis; V-RQOL; Voice Quality; Asia; India; Human; Tracheoesophageal; Prosthesis; Stomatology; tracheoesophageal prosthesis; ENT; Laryngectomy; Quality of life; V-RQOL; Treatment; Surgery; Indian; Puncture; Voice; TEP
• ISSN: 1043-3074; 1097-0347
• DOI: 10.1002/hed.20922

Background. Voice‐related quality of life (V‐RQOL) has never been studied in Indian patients. This study was planned to validate and assess V‐RQOL in patients using tracheoesophageal puncture (TEP). Methods. A cross‐sectional study was undertaken to validate V‐RQOL questionnaire by testing reliability, validity, and responsiveness. V‐RQOL was assessed in patients undergoing total laryngectomy with primary TEP. Results. One hundred thirty‐two patients filled 188 questionnaires. Analysis was carried out on 122 patients. Reliability and validity of questionnaire were tested by Cronbach's alpha (.84–.91) and item‐scale correlation (.67–.86). Median V‐RQOL‐Total score was 76.2 indicating excellent V‐RQOL. Higher scores were observed in patients less than 50 years (82.5 vs 72.5, p = .08). There was no effect of time interval between laryngectomy and assessment of questionnaire on the V‐RQOL scores. Conclusion. V‐RQOL questionnaire can be used reliably to assess V‐RQOL, which is found to be excellent in Indian patients undergoing TEP. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2009