Perceptual Evaluation of the Tracheoesophageal Voice: Italian Validation of the Sunderland Tracheoesophageal Perceptual Scale

Abstract

This study aimed to validate the Sunderland Tracheoesophageal Perceptual Scale (SToPS) in the Italian language by checking the inter- and intra-rater reliability. Scale validation METHODS: The validation of the tool involved the following steps: (1) translation and adaptation of the SToPS into Italian language; (2) recruitment of participants (60 laryngectomized patients with a voice prosthesis and 12 health professionals-six speech and language therapists (SLTs) and six ear, nose, and throat surgeons-classified into experienced (Exp) or not at assessing voice; (3) recording of patients' speech samples; (4) perceptual evaluation of recorded speech samples (test and retest) performed by the 12 health professionals; and (5) statistical analysis (quadratic weighted Cohen kappa and weighted kappa of Light coefficients). When all raters were considered as one group, an agreement ≥0.50 was reached for all parameters. The "ExpSLTs" group rated more reliably than the other groups, achieving a "good" intrarater agreement for 9/10 parameters. Despite the interrater coefficients were lower than the intrarater ones for all rater groups, "ExpSLTs" obtained the best levels of interrater agreement, achieving a level of agreement ≥0.50 for all parameters. Finally, considering intrarater+interrater agreement ("good+good" or "good+moderate"), the "ExpSLTs" group showed the greatest agreement, attaining all parameters that met the criteria for "good" or "moderate" agreement levels. The Italian version of SToPS can be considered a reliable tool. As in the original version, expert SLTs are the better judges for tracheoesophageal voice assessment.