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Acoustic parameters of speech: Lack of correlation with perceptual and questionnaire‐based speech evaluation in patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer treated with primary surgery
Author(s) -
Dwivedi Raghav C.,
St.Rose Suzanne,
Chisholm Edward J.,
Clarke Peter M.,
Kerawala Cyrus J.,
Nutting Christopher M.,
RhysEvans Peter H.,
Kazi Rehan,
Harrington Kevin J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.23956
Subject(s) - formant , medicine , correlation , audiology , oral cavity , cancer , perception , psychology , dentistry , speech recognition , geometry , mathematics , vowel , neuroscience , computer science
Background Acoustic evaluation of speech is the least explored method of speech evaluation in patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer. The purpose of this study was to explore acoustic parameters of speech and their correlation with questionnaire evaluation and perceptual evaluation in patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer. Methods One hundred seventeen subjects (65 consecutive patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer and 52 controls) participated in this study. Formant frequencies (by Linear Predictive Coding), Speech Handicap Index, and London Speech Evaluation scale were used for acoustic evaluation, questionnaire evaluation, and perceptual evaluation, respectively. Results Men showed significant elevation in second formant (F2) values for patients with oral cavity cancer and those who underwent surgery alone. Female patients with early T classification cancers and those who underwent surgery and chemoradiation showed significant reduction in the mean F2 values. Importantly, however, acoustic evaluation parameters did not correlate with either perceptual evaluation or questionnaire evaluation parameters, although there was moderate correlation between questionnaire evaluation and perceptual evaluation speech parameters. Conclusion Acoustic evaluation modalities have no clear role in the management of patients with oral cavity and oropharyngeal cancer. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck 38: 670–676, 2016