Perceptual Assessment of Tracheoesophageal Voice Quality With the SToPS: The Development of a Reliable and Valid Tool.

Perceptual assessment of tracheoesophageal voice quality following total laryngectomy with surgical voice restoration is essential to investigate functional outcomes in relation to surgical procedure and rehabilitation regimes. There is no current tool with established reliability and validity to fulfill this purpose. This study describes the development of a set of new perceptual scales, in relation to core validity and reliability issues. These were investigated using voice stimuli from 55 voice prosthesis speakers and evaluated by 22 judges-12 speech and language therapists (SLTs), 10 Ear, Nose, and Throat surgeons-classified into experienced or not at assessing voice. SLT judges rated more parameters reliably than Ear, Nose, and Throat raters, and SLTs with specialist experience in laryngectomy and laryngeal voice attained the most parameters at an acceptable level of agreement. These scales are ready for clinical use, with the most optimal assessors being expert SLTs. Future studies are needed to ascertain precisely how reliability may relate to training, experience, voice stimuli type, and scale format.

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