A Preliminary Receiver Operating Characteristic Analysis on Voice Handicap Index Results of the Greek Voice-Disordered Patients

Abstract

Objective(s): The cutting-edge assessment of voice disorders includes objective and subjective methods in the daily clinical practice. The latter assessment is usually performed through the administration of self-reported questionnaires. Voice Handicap Index (VHI) is one of the most widely used tools both in clinical practice and in research level. This tool-questionnaire was employed in this research along with the Voice Evaluation Template (VEF). In turn, the aim of this study was to analyse and produce the cutoff points of VHI for voice-disordered patients in Greece by using Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves (ROC Curves). Methods: Sixty-three participants (40 non-dysphonic and 23 with different types of dysphonia) were classified by ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) doctors and SLPs (Speech-Language Pathologists). The Hellenic VHI along with the translated Greek version of the VEF was administered to the subjects of this research. Results: The voice-disordered subjects exhibited higher overall VHI scores (in total and in its 3 subdomains) compared to the control group. Statistical significant differences were found between dysphonic and non-dysphonic participants for all VHI's construct domains. The cutoff point of VHI total score was estimated at the value of 14.50 (sensitivity: 0.870, 1-specificity: 0.000). Moreover, the cutoff points of the three subdomains were computed as 7.

Correlations between oropharyngeal and laryngeal anatomy and the frequency of singing voice: A population-based study, in Greece

“…Singers with a medical history of head and neck surgery, voice disorders in the past or neck radiation, singers who take drugs, drink alcohol or smoke were excluded from the study. Additionally, who had presented during the previous weeks laryngeal/vocal complaints, symptoms of gastro re-flux (GERD), or laryngopharyngeal reflux (LRP) disease, were excluded this study [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46]. Female participants that were pregnant were not included in the study, because their receiving any radioactive substance would have been impermissible [47,48].…”