Rangarajan Akshaya, Selvaraj Jasmine Lydia, Santhanam Divya Perumal
Department of Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology, MERF-Institute of Speech and Hearing (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
Clin Med Insights Ear Nose Throat. 2019 Mar 7;12:1179550619831049. doi: 10.1177/1179550619831049. eCollection 2019.
Voice serves as an identity and is one of the primary requisites of an individual, especially for singers who are extensive professional voice users with greater vulnerability to voice disorders. The aim of this study is to translate and validate the Tamil version of Voice-Related Quality of Life (T-VRQOL), a self-rating questionnaire that estimates the influence of voice disorders on quality of life. The study also intends to compare the T-VRQOL scores in singers (with and without voice complaint) and non-singers, and to correlate T-VRQOL and the Tamil Singing Voice Handicap Index-10 (TSVHI-10).
In this cross-sectional study, 120 native Tamil speakers (40 classically trained Carnatic singers without voice complaints, 40 Carnatic singers with voice complaints and 40 normal non-singers) in the age range of 20 to 50 years, filled in the T-VRQOL and the TSVHI-10 rating scales, along with a demographic questionnaire.
Reliability of T-VRQOL was established with Cronbach α coefficient (r = 0.9, < .001) and good test-retest reliability (r = 0.98). The validity of T-VRQOL was confirmed by examining convergent and discriminant validity. T-VRQOL also demonstrated a good correlation with the TSVHI-10 (r = 0.838, < .001). On comparing the T-VRQOL scores across the groups, singers (13.88 and 24.3) obtained higher values than the non-singers (11.63). Among the singers, those with voice complaints (24.3) scored higher than those without voice complaints (13.88) in the T-VRQOL.
The Tamil version of Voice-Related Quality of Life (VRQOL) questionnaire correlates well with TSVHI-10. It proves to be an effective clinical tool in effectively evaluating the VRQOL among the Tamil-speaking population.
嗓音是个体的一种身份标识，也是其主要特征之一，对于那些频繁使用专业嗓音且更容易患嗓音障碍的歌手来说尤其如此。本研究旨在翻译并验证泰米尔语版的嗓音相关生活质量问卷（T-VRQOL），这是一份自评问卷，用于评估嗓音障碍对生活质量的影响。该研究还打算比较歌手（有和无嗓音问题）与非歌手的T-VRQOL得分，并将T-VRQOL与泰米尔语歌唱嗓音障碍指数-10（TSVHI-10）进行相关性分析。
在这项横断面研究中，120名年龄在20至50岁之间的泰米尔语母语者（40名接受过古典音乐训练且无嗓音问题的卡纳提克歌手、40名有嗓音问题的卡纳提克歌手和40名正常非歌手）填写了T-VRQOL和TSVHI-10评分量表，以及一份人口统计学调查问卷。
通过Cronbach α系数（r = 0.9，< 0.001）确定了T-VRQOL的信度，重测信度良好（r = 0.98）。通过检验聚合效度和区分效度证实了T-VRQOL的效度。T-VRQOL与TSVHI-10也显示出良好的相关性（r = 0.838，< 0.001）。在比较各组的T-VRQOL得分时，歌手（13.88和24.3）的得分高于非歌手（11.63）。在歌手中，有嗓音问题的歌手（24.3）在T-VRQOL中的得分高于无嗓音问题的歌手（13.88）。
泰米尔语版的嗓音相关生活质量（VRQOL）问卷与TSVHI-10相关性良好。它被证明是一种有效的临床工具，可用于有效评估讲泰米尔语人群的VRQOL。
