Diagnostic validity of Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) compared with perceptive-auditory and acoustic speech pathology evaluations of the voice.

BACKGROUND: The voice handicap index (VHI) questionnaire and its reduced version (VHI-10) have the aim of measuring voice problems from the subject's self-perception. No studies on the predictive value of VHI-10 have been conducted.

OBJECTIVE: To determine diagnostic validity indicators for VHI-10.

METHOD: Four hundred seventy-six elementary and high school teachers working in municipal public schools in Salvador, Bahia, were evaluated. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, proportion of correct classification, Youden index, and positive and negative likelihood ratios were calculated.

RESULTS: VHI-10 presented low rates for sensitivity (29%), proportion of correct classification (44%), positive predictive value (42%), and negative predictive value (33%). The validity indicators for VHI-10 were better in comparisons with perceptive-auditory analysis than with acoustic analysis.

CONCLUSION: Because of the low validity of VHI-10, its use in population-based studies is not recommended. This suggests that it has limitations as a diagnostic support instrument for clinical evaluations.