Oral squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue: Prospective and objective speech evaluation of patients undergoing surgical therapy

• Published in: Head & neck 2016-07, Vol.38 (7), p.993-1001
• Main Authors: Riemann, Max, Knipfer, Christian, Rohde, Maximilian, Adler, Werner, Schuster, Maria, Noeth, Elmar, Oetter, Nico, Shams, Nima, Neukam, Friedrich-Wilhelm, Stelzle, Florian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biopsy, Needle; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - mortality; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - pathology; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - surgery; Case-Control Studies; Databases, Factual; Disease-Free Survival; Female; Germany; Glossectomy - adverse effects; Glossectomy - methods; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Middle Aged; Mouth Neoplasms - mortality; Mouth Neoplasms - pathology; Mouth Neoplasms - surgery; oral cancer; Prognosis; Prospective Studies; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures - methods; Speech disorders; Speech Intelligibility - physiology; speech recognition; speech rehabilitation; Statistics, Nonparametric; Surgery; Surgical Flaps - transplantation; Survival Analysis; Tongue; Tongue Neoplasms - mortality; Tongue Neoplasms - pathology; Tongue Neoplasms - surgery
• ISSN: 1043-3074; 1097-0347
• DOI: 10.1002/hed.23994

Background Prospective speech intelligibility assessments lack objectivity in patients undergoing surgery for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) of the tongue. Methods Speech intelligibility was measured based on word recognition by means of an automatic and objective speech recognition system preoperatively, and 14 to 20 days, and 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months postoperatively. The study comprised 25 patients with OSCC of the tongue and a healthy control group (n = 40). Results Patients yielded significant speech impairments compared to the healthy control group both before surgery and after 12 months (p ≤ .002). The speech intelligibility of the patients decreased significantly 14 to 20 days after surgery (p