Measurement of the handicap of dysphonic patients using the filipino voice handicap index

ABSTRACT

Objective: 1) To describe patterns of Filipino Voice Handicap Index (VHI) scores in relation to the demographic data of dysphonic patients; 2) To describe patterns of Filipino VHI scores in relation to the different pathologies of dysphonia as determined by videostroboscopy. Methods: Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Tertiary Government Hospital. Population Adult patients (?18 years old), proficient in Filipino. A group of 124 dysphonic patients seen at the Videostroboscopy Unit completed the Filipino VHI. Demographic data were collected. Videostroboscopy diagnoses were classified into six groups normal, mass lesions, inflammatory, mucosal irregularities, functional and neurogenic. The T-test was used to determine differences in scores among the demographic parameters and the pathology groups. ANOVA one-way factor was used to determine difference of subscale scores within each pathology group, and to determine difference of pathology scores in each subscale. Differences were considered statistically significant if p40 years old. Females had significantly higher scores than males in the functional, physical and total subscales. Patients with lower educational status scored higher compared to college graduates. Voice professionals significantly scored higher than the non-voice professionals. Dysphonic patients significantly scored higher than normal volunteers. Among the pathological groups, neurogenic lesions had the highest scores. Physical subscale scores were significantly higher in all lesions except in functional lesions. Conclusion: The Filipino VHI is comparable to the other versions of the VHI, with patterns similar to other versions. It gives the clinician a measure of a dysphonic patient’s handicap, an is an invaluable tool in quantifying severity of dysphonia.