Summary
Introduction
Outcome measures describing acoustic voice quality and self-perceived vocal handicap
are commonly used in clinical voice practice. Previous reports of the relationship
between acoustic and self-perceived measures have found only limited associations,
but it is unclear if acoustic measures associated with voice quality and self-perceived
voice handicap change in a similar manner over the course of voice treatment. The
current study, therefore, considered the relationship between the degree of change
in Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI) and Voice Handicap Index (VHI-30 and VHI-10)
in dysphonic patients receiving treatment in a private practice voice clinic.
Methods
Data were collected retrospectively from patient records of a private practice voice
clinic over 80 consecutive months. For each patient, their voice disorder diagnosis,
age, and biological sex were collected as well as pre-and post-treatment measures
of the AVQI and VHI-30 or VHI-10 depending on which version was used. Correlations
were calculated between the AVQI and VHI-30 and the AVQI and VHI-10 before and after
treatment as well as for the percentage change of AVQI and VHI-30/VHI-10. Friedman
and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to determine the pre-and post-treatment effect
and group differences respectively.
Results
Seventy-eight patients were included in the analyses. The scores of the AVQI (χ²[1] = 24.01,
P < 0.001), VHI-30 (χ²[1] = 18.00, P < 0.001), and VHI-10 (χ²[1] = 38.35, P < 0.001) all improved significantly after treatment. However, correlations between
the AVQI and VHI-30, and the AVQI and VHI-10 were all non-significant, except for
a moderate correlation between the AVQI and VHI-10 before treatment (r[43] = 0.31,
P = 0.04). The percentage change of the AVQI and the VHI-30/VHI-10 did not correlate
significantly.
Conclusions
Voice therapy significantly improved acoustic and self-perceived vocal outcome measures.
However, there was no significant relationship between these measures before or after
treatment, nor was there a relationship in their degree of change. Results support
the notion that VHI and AVQI measure unique constructs and that voice therapy can
have a positive impact on both.
Key Words
Abbreviations:
VHI-30 (Voice Handicap Index), VHI-10 (Voice Handicap Index-10), AVQI (Acoustic Voice Quality Index), HNR (Harmonics-to-noise ratio), NHR (Noise-to-harmonics ratio), MPT (Maximum phonation time), DSI (Dysphonia Severity Index), CPP (Cepstral peak prominence), SLP (Speech-language pathologist), MML (Mid-membranous lesions), NSD (Non-specific dysphonia), Atr/Bow (Atrophy or bowing), UVFP (Unilateral vocal fold paralysis), MTD (Muscle tension dysphonia)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 03, 2022
Accepted:
April 27,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2022 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
