2014 Volume 55 Issue 3 Pages 226-232
We classified 35 members of the Hokkaido laryngectomee welfare organization "Hokureikai" (31 men, 4 women) into three groups according to degree of achievement of esophageal speech and investigated their situations with regard to esophageal speech and esophageal speech rehabilitation. We clarified the following. 1) A degree of achievement of intermediate or above was deemed necessary to talk using esophageal speech. 2) The correlation between VHI-10 and conversation function was poor, and there were no significant differences in degree of achievement among the three groups. 3) As the patients' esophageal speech technique improved, dissatisfaction with factors such as articulation decreased but dissatisfaction with voice volume remained. 4) After mastering the skill process for esophageal speech, patients sometimes used other forms of alaryngeal speech for efficient communication, depending on the situation. 5) In Hokkaido, rehabilitation of total laryngectomees is supported by the "Hokureikai" and members need a long period for acquisition of esophageal speech. Simultaneously, however, our findings also confirmed a lack of medical institutions able to provide systematic rehabilitation support.
