Orbelo, Diana

Abstract Objective Effective communication with humans and automated voice assistants (AVA) is essential for full participation in modern life. Because AVA relies on intelligible speech, individuals with speech impairments, such as those treated for oral cavity cancer (OCC), may face barriers when interacting with AVA. We assessed self‐reported communication difficulty in patients treated for OCC related to AVA and humans. Study Design Prospective cross‐sectional cohort study. Setting Out‐patient clinics in two tertiary care centers. Methods This study was conducted between July 2024 and March 2025 and included adults (≥18 years) diagnosed with and surgically treated for OCC (experimental group) and those without speech impairments (controls). Participants completed the Speech Communication Experience Survey (SCES), which assessed perceived intelligibility when communicating with familiar partners, strangers, and AVA; and, as reported elsewhere, the Speech Handicap Index (SHI). Results In total, 159 participants were included (69 OCC, 90 controls). OCC participants were more likely to report that familiar partners, strangers, and AVA “almost always” or “always” had difficulty understanding their speech ( P < .05). Free flap reconstruction and maxillectomy were associated with greater reported communication difficulty. AVA usage frequency and overall opinions toward AVA did not significantly differ between groups. Conclusion Patients treated for OCC report significantly greater difficulty being understood by both AVA and human listeners compared to controls. These perceptions may inform peri‐operative counseling and guide the development of more inclusive AVA technologies capable of accommodating diverse speakers. Level of Evidence : 3.

Background/Objectives: Patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) may report abnormalities in voice and speech; however, no formal research has been conducted in this area. Methods: An online mixed-methods survey was completed by 685 people with ME/CFS. A total of 302 respondents completed the qualitative component (44.09%). Questions assessed disease experience with ME/CFS and post-exertional malaise without prompting on specific symptoms. Within the qualitative results, a search of the terms “speech, voice,” “words,” and “speak” was conducted. Results: Excluding neurocognitive associations, colloquial phrases, and “speech therapy,” there were 38 mentions of the terms in the context of voice or speech changes across 28 unique qualitative survey responses (9.27%). Conclusions: A notable portion of respondents reported voice or speech changes when responding to open-ended qualitative questions about their disease experience. More research is needed regarding the implications of voice and speech anomalies in ME/CFS pathology and disease monitoring.

Abstract Introduction Acoustic analysis of speech has discriminated decompensated acute heart failure (HF). Speech rate (SR) and cepstral peak prominence (CPP) variation are among features previously evaluated. However, the association between SR and CPP and chronic stable HF with and without pulmonary hypertension (PH) as well as PH alone have not been previously studied. Methods Patients evaluated for HF and/or PH in the outpatient setting recorded a standardized text read out loud from which a sentence was extracted and analysed to extract pre-specified acoustic features including SR and CPP calculated for voiced speech (CPP-V) and in all speech (CPP-All). Patients were grouped depending on the presence or absence of disease (HF and/or PH) and symptoms. Linear regression models were fitted to determine the association between each acoustic feature and disease status. Results In total, 2153 patients were included: age 65.32 ± 17.18 years; male n = 1246 (57.9%); 879 had HF (40.8%), 542 had PH (25.2%) and 777 had no disease and no symptoms (36.1%). After adjustment for age and sex, SR was significantly lower in patients with PH only [estimated coefficient, 95% confidence interval (CI): −0.14, −0.21 to −0.06, P = 0.0006], HF only (−0.11, −0.17 to −0.05, P = 0.0002) and HF with PH (−0.17, −0.24 to −0.10, P &lt; 0.0001) compared with no disease. CPP-V differed in patients with PH only (0.37, 0.16–0.57, P = 0.0004) and CPP-All differed significantly compared with patients without disease (0.23, 0.08–0.38, P = 0.0025). Conclusions SR is significantly slower in patients with HF alone, PH alone and HF and PH combined compared with patients without disease. CPP also differs significantly in patients with PH compared with controls. These findings suggest that acoustic analysis may be useful in discriminating chronic stable HF and PH, offering promise for the development of non-invasive screening methods for HF and PH.

Objective(s): To quantify and compare pre-procedure worry versus the experience of pain, gagging, and dyspnea during in-office laryngoscopy procedures in patients who did or did not receive pre-procedure anxiolytics, and to explore patient perception of intra-procedure interventions. Methods: Patients undergoing awake laryngology procedures at a quaternary care center were enrolled. The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) Y1 and Y2 questionnaires were administered to establish baseline levels of state anxiety and trait anxiety, respectively. Pre-procedure and post-procedure surveys assessed patient perception of select interventions. Results: 34 patients were enrolled (35.3% female, 91.2% white, mean age 60 years). Pre-procedure, 51.5% of patients reported some degree of worry about pain, 61.8% about gagging, 52.9% about dyspnea, and 55.9% about having something in their nose/throat. Post-procedure, 54.5% reported experiencing pain to some degree, 63.6% had gagging, 39.4% had dyspnea, and 78.7% were bothered by having something in their nose/throat. Patients who received a pre-procedure anxiolytic were significantly more likely to report more pain compared to those who did not. The highest rated interventions were pre-procedural education (97.0% “Very helpful”), verbal reassurance (96.9%), provider communicating steps of the procedure (96.9%), and reminders to breathe (87.5%). Conclusion: For patients undergoing awake laryngology procedures, the anticipation of gagging, pain, trouble breathing, and scope-related discomfort are worrisome factors. Of these, scope-related discomfort and gagging are the most often-reported sources of intraprocedural discomfort. The interventions patients found most helpful were based on preprocedural education and clear intraprocedural communication, which suggests that purposeful communication has a role in relieving anxiety. Level of evidence: Level 4

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate visual gaze patterns and the ability to correctly identify cancer among participants of different experience levels when viewing benign and malignant vocal cord lesions. Methods: Thirty-one participants were divided into groups based on level of experience. These included novice (medical students, PGY1-2 otolaryngology residents), intermediate (PGY3-5 otolaryngology residents, gastroenterology fellow), advanced practice providers (physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and speech language pathologists), and experts (board-certified otolaryngologists). Each participant was shown 7 images of vocal cord pathology including glottic cancer, infectious laryngitis, and granuloma and asked to determine the likelihood of cancer on a scale of certain, probable, possible, and unlikely. Eye tracking data were collected and used to identify the area of interest (AOI) that each participant fixated on first, fixated on the longest, and had the greatest number of fixations. Results: No significant differences were seen among groups when comparing AOI with first fixation, AOI with longest fixation, or AOI with most fixations. Novices were significantly more likely to rate a low likelihood of cancer when viewing infectious laryngitis compared to more experienced groups ( P < .001). There was no difference in likelihood of cancer rating among groups for the remaining images. Conclusions: There was no significant difference in gaze targets among participants of different experience levels evaluating vocal cord pathology. Symmetric appearance of vocal cord lesions may explain differences seen in likelihood of cancer rating among groups. Future studies with larger sample sizes will better elucidate gaze targets that lead to accurate diagnosis of vocal cord pathology.

This study evaluated the feasibility of differentiating conversational and clear speech produced by individuals with muscle tension dysphonia (MTD) using landmark-based analysis of speech (LMBAS). Thirty-four adult speakers with MTD recorded conversational and clear speech, with 27 of them able to produce clear speech. The recordings of these individuals were analyzed with the open-source LMBAS program, SpeechMark®, matlab Toolbox version 1.1.2. The results indicated that glottal landmarks, burst onset landmarks, and the duration between glottal landmarks differentiated conversational speech from clear speech. LMBAS shows potential as an approach for detecting the difference between conversational and clear speech in dysphonic individuals.

Objective: To investigate potential associations between the Predictive Gagging Survey (PGS) with patient experience of gag and discomfort as well as provider perception of patient gag and level of laryngeal visualization during flexible laryngoscopy with stroboscopy (FL-S). Methods: A total of 53 adult patients undergoing FL-S were recruited for this prospective non-controlled study. PGS was completed before FL-S. Patients rated perceived level of gag and discomfort on a 10-point severity scale after FL-S. Additionally, providers completed a Gagging Severity Index (GSI) reflecting their impression of patient gag and level of laryngeal visualization following FL-S. Spearman rank correlation coefficients were used to assess associations. Results: There was a positive association with PGS score and patient perception of gagging (0.34; P = .013) and patient perception of discomfort (0.38; P = .005). No significant association was found between PGS score and provider GSI (−0.12; P = .39) or level of laryngeal visualization (0.15; P = .29). A negative association was found between level of laryngeal visualization and patient perception of gagging (−0.34; P = .012) and discomfort (−0.44; P = .001). No significant differences were found between current and former smokers compared to never smokers for GSI or patient-perceived gag or discomfort. Conclusions: While not predictive of GSI or level of laryngeal visualization, the PGS was found to be a useful tool in predicting patient experience of gagging and discomfort during FL-S, further reinforcing the subjective experience of this procedure. Use of the PGS may be helpful in identifying specific candidates who may struggle with subjective discomfort or gagging during FL-S for future studies considering interventions to manage and meaningfully decrease discomfort. Having such an instrument is important given the low number of individuals who struggle with discomfort during the exam.

Objective: Recurrent laryngeal nerve injury is a potential complication of cardiothoracic surgery and cause of unilateral vocal fold paralysis (UVFP). Injection laryngoplasty (IL) is an intervention offered to patients with UVFP to alleviate symptoms including dysphagia, dysphonia and weak cough. There is no definitive evidence that IL prevents pneumonia. In this study, we compare rates of pneumonia in patients with UVFP secondary to cardiothoracic surgery who did or did not undergo IL. Methods: A retrospective chart review identified patients diagnosed with UVFP by an otolaryngologist using flexible laryngoscopy following cardiothoracic surgery from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2017. Each subject was grouped by IL status and assessed for subsequent pneumonia within 6 months of their diagnosis of UVFP. The association of IL with pneumonia was evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression. Results: Of 92 patients who met inclusion criteria, 35 (38%) underwent IL and 57 (62%) did not. Twenty patients developed pneumonia, four who had undergone IL and 16 who had not; 12 patients developed aspiration pneumonia including two having undergone IL and 10 who had not. Those who had IL were less likely to develop total pneumonia compared to those who had not (HR = 0.33, P = .045). The protective effect of IL was not as clearly sustained when measuring for aspiration pneumonia, specifically (HR = 0.34; P = .10). Discussion: Injection laryngoplasty may reduce the risk of pneumonia in patients with UVFP secondary to cardiothoracic surgery; however, further research is needed to quantify the potential protective nature of IL in this patient population. Level of evidence: 3 (A retrospective cohort study).