Effect of vocal rehabilitation after chemoradiation for non-laryngeal head and neck cancers

OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the effect of voice intervention in patients who received chemoradiation to the neck for non-laryngeal head and neck malignancies. METHODS: Twenty individuals with non-laryngeal malignancies of the head and neck who received chemoradiation were divided by block randomisation into an intervention group that received voice rehabilitation and a control group without rehabilitation. All patients underwent acoustic analysis, perceptual and subjective analysis of voice before the commencement of chemoradiotherapy and at 1, 3 and 6 months after chemoradiotherapy. RESULTS: In both groups, all parameters were significantly altered at one month follow-up except for fundamental frequency (females in control group and males in intervention group). In the intervention group, all parameters returned to pretreatment levels (no statistical differences) at 6 months. In the control group, all except for a few subjective parameters (grade, breathiness and asthenia) remained significantly altered at 6 months compared to the levels before radiotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: In non-laryngeal head and neck malignancies, voice rehabilitation offered at 1 month after treatment ameliorates chemoradiation-induced dysphonia within 6 months.