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Optimising outcome assessment of voice interventions, I: Reliability and validity of three self-reported scales
A L Webb1, P N Carding, I J Deary
1Department of Speech & Language Therapy, Institute of Health and Society, Scotland, UK.
Background:
There is an increasing choice of voice outcome research tools, but good comparative data are lacking.
Objective:
To evaluate the reliability and validity of three voice-specific, self-reported scales.
Design:
Longitudinal, cohort comparison study.
Setting:
Two UK voice clinics: the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, and the Glasgow Royal Infirmary.
Participants:
One hundred and eighty-one patients presenting with dysphonia.
Main Outcome Measures:
All patients completed the vocal performance questionnaire, the voice handicap index and the voice symptom scale. For comparison, each patient's voice was recorded and assessed perceptually using the grade-roughness-breathiness-aesthenia-strain scale. The reliability and validity of the three self-reported vocal performance measures were assessed in all subjects, while 50 completed the questionnaires again to assess repeatability.
Results:
The results of the 170 participants with completed data sets showed that all three questionnaires had high levels of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.81-0.95) and repeatability (voice handicap index = 0.83; vocal performance questionnaire = 0.75; voice symptom scale = 0.63). Concurrent and criterion validity were also good, although, of the grade-roughness-breathiness-aesthenia-strain subscales, roughness was the least well correlated with the self-reported measures.
Conclusion:
The vocal performance questionnaire, the voice handicap index and the voice symptom scale are all reliable and valid instruments for measuring the patient-perceived impact of a voice disorder.
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