Objective To summarize guidelines on self-care and clinical management of persons with laryngectomy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method Articles published in electronic databases—PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and CINHAL with the compliant keywords—were scouted from December 2019 to November 2020. All original articles, letters to editors, reviews, and consensus statements were reviewed and included. Results In all, 20 articles that had information pertaining to self-care of persons with laryngectomy or guidelines for clinicians working with this population were identified. Four of the included studies were case reports of persons with laryngectomy who contracted the COVID-19 virus. One of the included articles was a cohort study that explored the use of telerehabilitation in persons with laryngectomy. Conclusion The hallmarks of preventative strategies for persons with laryngectomy during the COVID-19 pandemic are as follows: physical distancing, use of a three-ply mask or surgical mask to cover the mouth and nose, and use of Heat Moisture Exchange (HME) device over stoma in addition to covering it with a surgical mask or laryngectomy bib. Telerehabilitation, not a preference with this population prior to the pandemic, has gained popularity and acceptance during the COVID-19 situation. The reports of COVID-positive persons with laryngectomy have indicated contrary findings from the tracheal and nasal swabs, necessitating compulsory inclusion of both nasal and tracheal swabs.

Background Head and neck cancer (HNC) patients often undergo radiation therapy as part of their treatment. However, radiation therapy can have many side effects, including oral toxicities. Evaluating these toxicities is often considered a challenging task for practicing clinicians due to the lack of assessment tools. The objective of this study is to culturally adapt, translate and validate the Vanderbilt Head and Neck Symptom Survey (VHNSS), an instrument designed to assess oral toxicities and changes in oral functioning in HNC patients receiving radiation therapy. Methods The VHNSS 2.0 was first culturally adapted and translated, following which 36 HNC patients undergoing radiation therapy were identified through the incidental sampling method. The translated version of VHNSS 2.0 was then administered to these patients. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha and Mc Donald’s Omega. Test–retest reliability was also analyzed. Results Items of the translated version of VHNSS 2.0 showed good content validity. The omega values yielded higher reliability coefficients than the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Test–retest reliability was found to be 0.8, indicating good reliability. Conclusions Results of this study suggest that the translated Kannada version of the VHNSS 2.0 is linguistically equivalent to the original version. Hence, this tool can be considered a valid and reliable patient-reported tool to evaluate oral symptomatology in HNC patients speaking the Kannada language.

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