Validation of the Voice Handicap Index: 10 (VHI-10) to the Brazilian Portuguese

• Main Authors: Thiago Costa, Gisele Oliveira, Mara Behlau
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Brasileira de Fonoaudiologia
• Series: CoDAS
• Subjects: Dysphonia; Validation studies; Quality of life; Self-assessment; Questionnaires
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2317-17822013000500482&lng=en&tlng=en

PURPOSE: To validate the Voice Handicap Index - 10 (VHI-10) into Brazilian Portuguese and to check its psychometric measures. METHODS: The validation was performed following the guidelines suggested by the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Medical Outcomes Trust. A hundred ten individuals participated, 60 with vocal complaint, 6 males and 54 females, with age ranging from 21 to 82 years; and 50 without vocal complaint, 6 males and 44 females, age ranging from 18 to 87 years. The procedures performed were a voice self-assessment and the VHI-10. For the self-assessment, the individuals evaluated their vocal quality by means of a five-point scale: excellent, very good, good, fair and poor. The VHI-10 was administered twice to 30 of the 60 individuals with vocal complaint to determine the test-retest reproducibility. For checking the sensitivity, the VHI-10 was administered to 21 patients that underwent voice rehabilitation. RESULTS: The validity was determined by comparing the total score with the self-assessment results. Individuals that classified their voice as poor had a total score of 28.2 (standard deviation=8). Internal consistence was determined with high values of coefficient (p<0.001). Results showed a high level of reproducibility (p=0.0114). Sensitivity was demonstrated with a significant difference between pre and post-rehabilitation results (p<0.005). CONCLUSION: The VHI-10 is an instrument validated into Brazilian Portuguese, with psychometric measures of validity, reliability and sensibility proven and can be applied to individuals with voice problems.