Acceptability and intelligibility of tracheoesophageal speech using the Groningen valve.

Abstract

This prospective study was set up to investigate the acceptability and intelligibility of speech produced by a population of male patients who had undergone total laryngectomy for malignant disease in Sheffield. Each had been fitted with at least 1 Groningen tracheoesophageal prosthesis and their phonatory qualities were assessed by a team of 8 naive listeners. Speech quality assessed in terms of acceptability and intelligibility was found to be generally very high and compares favourably with that produced by a population of patients using the Blom-Singer prosthesis.