Effectiveness of voice quality in patients with early glottic carcinoma
Patients treated for early glottic carcinoma often have voice problems after treatment. To enable valid assessment in clinical practice and research projects, a 5-item screening questionnaire was designed for detection of voice impairment and the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) was translated and validated.
A randomised controlled trial was carried out to assess the efficacy of voice therapy in patients with voice problems after treatment for early glottic cancer. Of 177 patients, 6 to 120 months after treatment of early glottic cancer, 70 patients (40%) suffered from voice impairment based on the 5-item screening questionnaire. About 60% of these 70 patients were not interested in participating in the study. Twenty-three patients, willing to participate, were randomly assigned to a voice therapy group (n=12) or a control group (n=11). Multidimensional voice analysis (VHI), acoustic and perceptual voice quality analysis, videolaryngostroboscopy, and Voice Range Profile (VRP)) was conducted twice: before and after voice therapy or with 3 months in between for the controls.
Statistical analysis of the difference scores (post- minus pre-measurement), showed significant voice improvement after voice therapy on the total VHI-score, percent jitter and noise to harmonics ratio in the voice signal and on the perceptual rating of vocal fry.
Voice therapy proved to be effective in patients with voice problems after treatment of early glottic cancer. Improvement was not only noticed by the patients (VHI) but was also confirmed by objective voice parameters.
Funding
VUmc, dept of Otolayrngology - Head & Neck Surgery and Council of Health Care Assurance Companies.
Staff
PhD student
drs. Christine D.L. van Gogh, ENT-specialist, researcher, dpt. Otolaryngology-Head&Neck Surgery, VUmc.
Project leaders
Prof I.M. Verdonck-de Leeuw, PhD, Psychologist, Speech and Language Therapist, Linguïst, dpt. Otolaryngology-Head&Neck Surgery, VUmc.
Prof H.F. Mahieu, PhD MD, ENT-specialist, dpt. Otolaryngology, Oncology, Meander Medical Center
Questions?
For questions, please contact:
Christine D.L. van Gogh, MD, ENT-specialist
Email: cdl.vangogh@vumc.nl
Phone: + 31 (0)204443690
News flashes
12 april 2013: KWF Kankerbestrijding / Alpe d’HuZes has granted the research proposal Netherlands Quality of life and Biomedical Cohort Studies in Cancer (NET-QUBIC).
Marieke de Bruijn will defend her PhD thesis on 10 juni 2013 at 15.45 pm.
Support our bicycle team for Alpe d'HuZes 2013!
On 6 June 2013 our team living together with cancer will cycle the Alpe d'HuZes! This in the fight against cancer. At this moment there is already more than 1500 euro donated. Do you support us too?
The 15th World Congress of Psycho-Oncology and Psychosocial Academy will be held in Rotterdam, 4-8 November 2013. www.ipos-society.org/ipos2013/.
29 January 2013. Pink Ribbon has granted a project to develop and evaluate an online training for cancer patients with insomnia (Annemieke van Straten), and a project to develop and evaluate a breast cancer module for the OncoKompas (Nelly van Uden).
Charity Symposium "Living with cancer"
On December 19, 2012 there will be a Symposium ''Living with Cancer''. This is a charity symposium on meaning centered psychotherapy for cancer patients. Read more about it at the tab News at the left.
15 November 2012: Hoe?Zo! Radio interview with Irma Verdonck on stress and cancer.
October 2012: Interview with Irma Verdonck in Psychologie Magazine.
September 9, 2012. Interview Hans van Willigenburg with Irma Verdonck on Radio 5.
August 2012. Five students finish their MSc thesis and graduate as MSc in Clinical PSychology.
June 28-30, 2012: International symposium on Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC ISOO) at New York. Kevin Yap and Irma Verdonck organise a workshop on e-health and supportive care.
Record for Alpe d'HuZes 2012. The sponsor action Alpe d'HuZes (6 and 7 June) 2012 has already yielded the record amount of 28.5 million euros.
June 6-8, 2012: Our research group contributes to Alpe d'HuZes as volunteers.
April 20, 2012: Nelly van Uden will give a presentation about OncoKompas at a conference about ICT in health care in Barcelona.
March 16, 2012: NVPO congress in Utrecht, we contribute with 2 oral and 2 poster presentations and a workshop.
January 1, 2012: The project POLARIS project has officially started.
December 22, 2011: Radio program DeGids.fm, Felix Meurders interviews Corien Eeltink on sexuality and cancer.
November 2, 2011: KWF / Alpe d'HuZes funds a grant for the development and evaluation of an online intervention for informal caregivers of cancer patients.
October 30, 2011 In the national television program "Gesprek op 2", Daphne Bunskoek interviewed Irma Verdonck on living with cancer.
October 28, 2011: www.oncokompas.nl is online!
October 23, 2011: Alpe d'HuZes hands over more than 20 million euros to the Dutch Cancer Society!
Team work
Our research projects are embedded in the two largest research institutes of VU University in Amsterdam: VUmc CCA-VICI (Cancer Center Amsterdam) www.vumc.nl/afdelingen/CCA-V-ICI/ and EMGO+ (Institute for Health and Care Research emgo.nl
We work closely with patients and their caregivers and with researchers and physicians at VU University and VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam and other research institutes and hospitals in the Netherlands and worldwide. Team work is crucial improving research and translating results into clinical practice.
