Supplementary Material for: Postlaryngectomy Vocal Rehabilitation: Assessment Using a Validated Questionnaire in 51 Patients

<i>Background:</i> This study aimed to assess valved speech and related issues in total laryngectomy patients with the help of the validated Voice Prosthesis Questionnaire (VPQ). <i>Patients and Methods:</i> We identified 61 patients who had undergone a surgical voice restoration with a valve following total laryngectomy and who were sent the VPQ by mail. <i>Results:</i> Fifty-one patients (37 males) completed the questionnaire giving a response rate of 83.6%. Fifty-three percent of the patients (n = 27) were fully aware of the dimensions of their valve including the length and diameter, whilst 25% (n = 13) were aware of only one of the two. There was a strong correlation between the patient’s perception of tone and their gender with the tone scores significantly lower in women as compared to men (Mann-Whitney test, p = 0.04). Ten patients (19.6%) had had leakage-related issues during the previous 7 days. <i>Conclusions:</i> This questionnaire provided a significant amount of valuable data. Based on our experience, we recommend the VPQ for prospective use in the serial monitoring and audit of total laryngectomy patients.

<i>研究背景：</i> 本研究旨在借助经过验证的语音假体问卷（Voice Prosthesis Questionnaire，VPQ），评估全喉切除术患者的带瓣膜语音及相关并发症情况。<i>患者与方法：</i> 本研究纳入61例全喉切除术后接受瓣膜式手术语音重建的患者，通过邮寄方式向其发放VPQ。<i>研究结果：</i> 共有51例患者（其中男性37例）完成问卷，应答率达83.6%。53%的患者（n=27）完全知晓自身所使用瓣膜的尺寸参数，包括长度与直径；另有25%的患者（n=13）仅了解其中一项参数。患者的音调感知与其性别存在显著相关性：女性的音调评分显著低于男性（曼-惠特尼检验，p=0.04）。过去7天内，共有10例患者（19.6%）出现过漏液相关并发症。<i>研究结论：</i> 本问卷获取了大量极具价值的研究数据。基于本次研究经验，我们推荐VPQ用于全喉切除术患者的连续监测与质量审核的前瞻性应用。