Validation of the Italian Voice Handicap Index-10.

OBJECTIVE: Time consuming is an important aspect in assessing dysphonic patients. So, the English version of the Voice Handicap Index (VHI-30), a self-administered questionnaire consisting of 30 items used to evaluate patients' self-perception of voice problems, was reduced to 10 items (VHI-10) for clinical purposes. In 2010, an Italian version of VHI-30 was validated, now the aims of this study were to analyze the psychometric properties of an Italian version of VHI-10 and to evaluate its validity in a cohort of patients affected by organic or functional dysphonia.

STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.

METHODS: The Italian version of the VHI-30 was submitted to 372 dysphonic participants and 120 healthy control subjects and was conducted again 2 weeks later. The 10 items constituting the VHI-10 were extracted from the VHI-30. For 73 dysphonic patients, the questionnaire was also administered after treatment.

RESULTS: The scores of the control group were significantly lower with respect to all diagnostic subgroups (P<0.001). The Cronbach's α, test-retest, and Pearson's correlation index demonstrated high reliability and validity of the Italian VHI-10. The ratio of the VHI-10 and VHI-30 scores was higher than 0.333 in all subgroups.

CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that the Italian VHI-10 is a robust tool that can adequately represent and replace the VHI-30. The reported results support the use of the VHI-10 for the Italian population in clinical settings owing to its validity and rapid and simple use.