Validation of the Lithuanian Version of the Voice Handicap Index-10

The Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) is a widely used standardized tool for assessing the perceived impact of voice disorders on daily life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the adapted Lithuanian version of the VHI-10.

A total of 205 participants were enrolled in this study. 134 patients with stable voice disorders were divided into three subgroups: neurogenic, structural and functional voice disorders. The control group consisted of 71 healthy subjects without voice pathology. Participants were asked to complete the VHI-10LT during the initial visit and again after 2-3 weeks. Internal consistency, clinical validity, and test-retest reliability were assessed for the validation of the standardized assessment tool.

Lithuanian VHI-10LT demonstrated excellent internal consistency in the patient group with Cronbach's α = 0.906. The scores of study and control groups showed that the VHI-10LT could distinguish people with a voice disorder from those without (P < 0.001), and also those with neurogenic voice diseases from individuals with functional and structural voice disorders (P < 0.05). A statistically significant negative correlation was found between the VHI-10LT and mean phonation time (MPT) (rho = -0.309; P < 0.001) and significant weak-to-moderate positive correlations were observed with all GRBAS components, except asthenia. Study group test-retest analysis showed good reliability of the VHI-10LT when assessing the total score (Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = 0.87) and each item separately (ICC = 0.78-0.90). The VHI-10LT demonstrated excellent discriminative accuracy (AUC = 0.987), the cutoff value was found to be ≥7 points.

The Lithuanian version of VHI-10LT showed excellent internal consistency, clinical validity and good test-retest reliability, proving to be a useful and brief instrument for assessing voice-related handicap for Lithuanian-speaking patients.