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    Outcome measures

    The main outcomes included survival, mode of ventilation, daily pacing duration, incidence of RI, quality of life, quality of speech, implant longevity, mortality, revision and PN damage. Some measures used (quality of life and quality of speech) are detailed in the following paragraphs.

    The SF-36 questionnaire is an instrument for evaluating health-related quality of life. This questionnaire has 36 questions and covers 8 dimensions (physical functioning, role-physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role-emotional, mental health), with scores for each dimension ranging from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate higher health-related quality of life.

    The SWLS is a short 5-item instrument designed to measure global cognitive judgements of satisfaction with one's life, with scores ranging from 5 to 35. Higher scores represent higher life satisfaction (5 to 9 indicating extremely dissatisfied; 31 to 35 representing extremely satisfied).

    The ISCIQoLBDS reflects subjective quality of life. It consists of 3 variables: ratings of satisfaction with general quality of life, satisfaction with physical health, and satisfaction with psychological health. All variables are rated on a scale ranging from 0 (completely dissatisfied) to 10 (completely satisfied).

    Quality of speech is measured on a scale ranging from 0 (no voice) to 6 (normal voice).