Development and Validation of the Children's Voice Questionnaire (CVQ)

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Otolaryngology
• Speech-Language Pathology
• Quality of Life Assessment

Background:

• Childhood dysphonia impacts quality of life.
• Existing assessment tools may not fully capture children's perspectives.
• A validated, child-friendly instrument is needed for accurate voice disorder evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the Children's Voice Questionnaire (CVQ) for self-administration by children.
• To evaluate the internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the CVQ.
• To compare children's self-reported voice issues with parental perceptions.

Main Methods:

• An 18-item Children's Voice Questionnaire (CVQ) was developed through interviews and pilot testing.
• The CVQ was administered to 342 children (aged 6-18), alongside the pediatric voice handicap index (pVHI) for parents.
• Test-retest reliability was assessed on a subset of 30 children.

Main Results:

• The CVQ demonstrated high internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.94) and strong test-retest reliability (r = 0.79).
• Significant differences in CVQ scores were found between dysphonic and non-dysphonic children (P < 0.001).
• Strong positive correlations were observed between children's CVQ scores and parents' pVHI scores (0.59 < r < 0.66).

Conclusions:

• The CVQ is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing children's voice-related quality of life.
• Children's and parents' perspectives on dysphonia show agreement but are not identical.
• The CVQ is a valuable tool for evaluating children with voice disorders in clinical and research settings.