INTELLIGIBILITY OF TRACHEOESOPHAGEAL SPEECH AMONG NAIVE LISTENERS

Tracheoesophageal (TE) speech is now the most common method of voice r ehabilitation after total laryngectomy. The speech intelligibility of laryngectomees who use TE speech as their primary mode of communicatio n was evaluated by 20 ''naive'' listeners. Two speech intelligibility tests were administered using phonetically balanced rhyming words or l ists of spondee words. The overall intelligibility for the group of la ryngectomees was 76%, with a wide range of variability among the indiv idual TE speakers. We concluded that TE speech is significantly less i ntelligible to naive listeners than normal laryngeal speech; further r efinement of voice rehabilitation for laryngectomees is needed.