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Speech and swallowing function after oral and oropharyngeal resections: One‐year follow‐up
Author(s) -
Pauloski Barbara Roa,
Logemann Jerilyn A.,
Rademaker Alfred W.,
McConnel Fred M. S.,
Stein David,
Beery Quinter,
Johnson Jonas,
Heiser Mary Anne,
Cardinale Salvatore,
Shedd Donald,
Graner Darlene,
Cook Barbara,
Milianti Frank,
Collins Sharon,
Baker Theresa
Publication year - 1994
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.2880160404
Subject(s) - swallowing , medicine , radiation therapy , articulation (sociology) , surgery , audiology , politics , political science , law
Background. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the speech and swallowing function of surgically treated oral cancer patients improves between 1 month and 1 year after surgery. Methods. Speech and swallowing performances were assessed for 28 men and 10 women preoperatively and at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months postoperatively following a standardized protocol. Speech tasks included an audio recording of a brief conversation and of a standard articulation test; swallowing function was examined using videofluoroscopy. Data were also collected on the number and duration of speech/ swallowing therapy sessions, as well as the amount and duration of radiotherapy. Results. Statistical analyses revealed that the speech and swallowing function of surgically treated oral and oropharyngeal cancer patients did not improve progressively between 1 and 12 months postsurgery; the level of functioning that these patients demonstrated at the 1‐ and 3‐month posthealing evaluations was characteristic of their status at 1 year after surgery. Conclusion. The lack of improvement between 1 and 12 months postsurgery may be related to the relatively small amount of therapy that these patients received during that period. Several outcome variables worsened significantly at the 6‐month evaluation; the reversal of function at the 6‐month evaluation point could be the effect of postoperative radiotherapy, because irradiated and nonirradiated patients differed in their pattern of recovery on oropharyngeal swallow efficiency and several speech variables. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.