Preregistered protocol for: Articulatory changes in speech following treatment for oral or oropharyngeal cancer: a systematic review
This addresses speech difficulties in cancer survivors, but it is incremental as it is a protocol for a review rather than new research.
The paper outlines a preregistered protocol for a systematic review to investigate articulatory changes in speech after treatment for oral or oropharyngeal cancer, aiming to directly measure tongue, jaw, and lip movements to better understand speech problems.
This document outlines a PROSPERO pre-registered protocol for a systematic review regarding articulatory changes in speech following oral or orophayrngeal cancer treatment. Treatment of tumours in the oral cavity may result in physiological changes that could lead to articulatory difficulties. The tongue becomes less mobile due to scar tissue and/or potential (postoperative) radiation therapy. Moreover, tissue loss may create a bypass for airflow or limit constriction possibilities. In order to gain a better understanding of the nature of the speech problems, information regarding the movement of the articulators is needed since perceptual or acoustic information provide only indirect evidence of articulatory changes. Therefore, this systematic review will review studies that directly measured the articulatory movements of the tongue, jaw, and lips following treatment for oral or oropharyngeal cancer.