Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40739433›Full record

ArticleSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2025

Factors influencing objective voice profile and speech intelligibility of patients after oral oncological treatment: a prospective cohort study.

Jenthe Thienpondt, Kris Demuynck, Matthias A W Merkx, Caroline M Speksnijder

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

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2 · The registry

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Jenthe ThienpondtIDLab, Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Ghent University - Imec, Ghent, Belgium.
Kris DemuynckIDLab, Department of Electronics and Information Systems, Ghent University - Imec, Ghent, Belgium.
Matthias A W MerkxDepartment of Research and Development, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (Integraal Kankercentrum Nederland, IKNL), Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Caroline M SpeksnijderDepartment of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. C.M.Speksnijder@umcutrecht.nl.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeWhile objective assessment of speech intelligibility after oral oncological treatment has proven reliable, no such method currently exists for assessing changes in perceptual voice profile. In this study, we introduce a novel objective method to assess changes in perceptual voice profile after oral oncological treatment. Subsequently, we identify demographic and clinical factors associated with objective assessments of voice profile and intelligibility from the pre-treatment stage up to 12 months after treatment.

methodsSpeech samples were collected from 140 patients pre-treatment (baseline) and 1, 6, and 12 months post-treatment. Neural speaker embeddings were used to measure changes in voice profile relative to the pre-treatment stage while an automatic speech recognition system determined speech intelligibility. A linear mixed-effects model was used to associate demographic and clinical factors with both measurements over time.

resultsVoice profile and speech intelligibility of patients were significantly impacted 1, 6, and 12 months after treatment compared to the baseline measurements. Increased age and tobacco usage were associated with worse intelligibility before treatment. Advanced tumor stage, bone flap reconstruction, local flap reconstruction, and their interaction with the timing of assessment were associated with both voice profile and intelligibility. Radiotherapy was associated with changes in voice profile 6 and 12 months after treatment but did not interact significantly with intelligibility.

conclusionVoice profile and speech intelligibility are significantly affected after oral oncological treatment. The severity is influenced by age, tobacco usage, tumor stage, and surgical reconstruction type. Radiotherapy seems to change voice profile rather than reducing intelligibility.

Indexed as

Mouth NeoplasmsSpeech IntelligibilityVoiceAdultAgedAged, 80 and overAge FactorsCohort StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasm StagingProspective StudiesSpeech Recognition SoftwareTime FactorsAutomatic speech recognitionLinear mixed-effects analysisOral cancerSpeaker embeddingsSpeech intelligibilityVoice profile

Identifiers

PMID40739433
PMCPMC12310887

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.