Correlation Between Personnality Traits and Ability to Learn Oroesophageal Voice (CoPerVOO)

After total laryngectomy and loss of laryngeal phonation, the oro-oesophageal voice (VOO) is a communication option for the patient. It involves little financial outlay and, when mastered, ensures functional communication, but requires time-consuming speech therapy. VOO acquisition depends on a number of factors, including the patient's physiology, personality and socio-cultural environment. Several authors have suggested the influence of psychology on failure to learn VOO, but the studies found in the literature are old and did not use personality tests to objectivize this link through quantitative analysis. Today, the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI-125) is a personality test used clinically and in research, and appreciated for the quantitative scores it provides.

The aim of our study is to ascertain whether salient personality traits (as measured by the TCI) are common to patients who succeed in learning VOO, compared with those who do not.

40 subjects who underwent total laryngectomy and had access to speech therapy will be included in this study. A speech assessment with audio recording will be performed and acoustic measurements will be taken. Subjects will also take the TCI-125. Finally, a perceptual evaluation by a jury of experts will categorize the subjects as good or poor speakers.

Inclusion period: 24 months Duration of subject participation: 1 day Total duration: 36 months

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Laryngectomy; Total Pharyngo-laryngectomy
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Test of personality : questionnary

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 40
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Camille Galant; Phone Number: 33 0491435817; Email: promotion.interne@ap-hm.fr

Study Locations

• France
  • Marseille, France, 13005
    • Recruiting
    • Assistance Publique Hopitaux de Marseille
    • Contact: Camille Galant; Phone Number: 33 0491435817; Email: promotion.interne@ap-hm.fr

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Men or women over 18 years of age
• French-speaking patients
• MoCA score ≥ 16/30
• Patients who have undergone laryngectomy or total pharyngo-laryngectomy between 6 months and 5 years of age
• Patients who have agreed to learn VOO
• Patients who began speech therapy to learn VOO no more than five years ago
• Patients who have had access to speech therapy to learn VOO for at least six months (completed or ongoing)
• Patients who have received information about the study and have not expressed their opposition
• Patients who are beneficiaries of or entitled to social security coverage

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who underwent a laryngectomy or total pharyngolaryngectomy more than 5 years ago
• Patients who did not receive speech therapy to learn OVO postoperatively, or who received less than 6 months of therapy
• Patients with a related condition that prevents them from learning VOO (anatomical or physiological abnormality, esophageal stenosis)
• Patients with a related condition that may be responsible for speech or fluency disorders (developmental, organic, or functional speech and language disorders, stuttering, stammering, fluency disorders, neurological speech disorders)
• Patients with uncorrected hearing loss
• Patients unable to receive informed consent about the ongoing research due to impaired psychological or physical health
• MoCA score <16/30
• Patients with definite depressive symptoms (HAD-D score ≥ 11)
• Patients in a period of exclusion from another research protocol at the time of collection of the non-opposition.
• Subjects covered by articles L1121-5 to 1121-8 of the French Public Health Code (minors, adults under guardianship or trusteeship, patients deprived of their liberty, pregnant or breast-feeding women, etc.).

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Study of personality traits in patients able or unable to learn VOO	Behavioral: Test of personality : questionnary; The questionnary Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) describes personality through temperament traits governed by the individual's neurobiological systems and predetermined by heredity; and character traits shaped by social and cognitive experience

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
TCI-defined personality traits in patients able to learn VOO and those unable to learn VOO	From enrollement to the end of the study at 36 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Comparison of the sub-scores of the 7 dimensions of the TCI questionnaire	From enrollment to the end of the study at 36 months
Measurement of VOO quality (cepstral peak proeminence in dB) from audio recordings between the two groups (able and unable the learn VOO)	From enrollment to the end of the study at 36 months
Measurement of speech rate (in syllables/second)	From enrollment to the end of the study at 36 months
Measurement of articulatory speed (in syllables / seconds excluding pauses)	From enrollment to the end of the study at 36 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Assistance Publique Hopitaux De Marseille

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 14, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): October 14, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 14, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 26, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 26, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 4, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): December 4, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 27, 2025
• Last Verified: November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: RCAPHM25_0002; 2025-A00022-47 (Other Identifier: IDRCB)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No