Relationships between esophageal speech proficiency and surgical, biographical, and social factors.

The relationship between judged esophageal speech proficiency and detailed medical/surgical, biographical, and social factors was investigated among a large sample of alaryngeal speakers. The data suggested that more extensive surgery such as radical neck dissection did not lessen the subjects' ability to learn esophageal speech. Surprisingly, subjects who had undergone radical neck surgery had better voices in many cases than those who had undergone only a simple laryngectomy. Educational level, socioeconomic status, length of time spent in speech therapy, and the number of years since surgery did not statistically influence speech results. However, those subjects still gainfully employed did achieve esophageal speech more often than those who were unemployed, particularly with reference to female subjects.