Long-Term Stability of Tracheoesophageal Voices

Long-term voice outcomes of 13 tracheoesophageal speakers are assessed using speech samples that were recorded with at least 7 years in between. Intelligibility and voice quality are perceptually evaluated by 10 experienced speech and language pathologists. In addition, automatic speech evaluations are performed with tools from Ghent University. No significant group effect was found for changes in voice quality and intelligibility. The recordings showed a wide interspeaker variability. It is concluded that intelligibility and voice quality of tracheoesophageal voice is mostly stable over a period of 7 to 18 years.