Department of Speech & Language Therapy, University of Ioannina, Ioannina, Greece; Department of Speech & Language Therapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, European University, Nicosia, Cyprus.
ENT Department, University of Crete, Iraklion, Greece.
J Voice. 2020 Nov;34(6):966.e1-966.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2019.06.016. Epub 2019 Jul 22.
Voice disorders influence the quality of people's life. When the type of disorder is determined then the clinicians are capable of finding their patients' needs and address their complaints concerning their vocal problems. One of the most used tools, for assessing the patients' quality of life (in accordance with their vocal status), is the Voice Handicap Index. In this study, we determined the cut-off scores of Voice Handicap Index for population with laryngeal mass lesions such as vocal polyps and nodules. The calculated cut-off points further guide clinicians toward applying a needed interventional method/therapy even in the cases where the condition of a person could not be easily estimated.
The study involved 130 participants (aged 19-74). Specifically, 90 nondysphonic people served as the control group, while 40 participants had already been diagnosed with voice disorders due to laryngeal mass lesions. Participants who were diagnosed with a laryngeal inflammation or had undergone a surgery were excluded from the study. The cut-off scores were determined through a receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.
The calculated cut-off points were 19.50 for the total score of VHI, 7.50 for the functional domain, and 8.50 for the physical and the emotional domain.
The aforementioned cut-off points could be used in empowering the everyday clinical practice. Moreover, their knowledge could help the construction of an individualized therapy plan, as well as monitoring-biofeedback tool for the populations with vocal fold lesions.
嗓音障碍会影响人们的生活质量。当确定了障碍的类型，临床医生就能够了解患者的需求，并解决他们对嗓音问题的投诉。评估患者生活质量（根据他们的嗓音状况）的最常用工具之一是嗓音障碍指数。在这项研究中，我们确定了声带肿块病变（如声带息肉和结节）患者的嗓音障碍指数的临界分数。计算出的临界值进一步指导临床医生采用必要的干预方法/治疗，即使在难以估计患者病情的情况下也是如此。
该研究涉及 130 名参与者（年龄 19-74 岁）。具体来说，90 名非发音障碍者作为对照组，而 40 名参与者已因声带肿块病变被诊断为嗓音障碍。排除患有喉炎或接受过手术的参与者。通过受试者工作特征（ROC）分析确定临界值。
计算出的临界值为：VHI 总分为 19.50，功能域为 7.50，生理和情感域为 8.50。
上述临界值可用于增强日常临床实践。此外，这些知识可以帮助为声带病变人群制定个体化的治疗计划，并作为监测生物反馈工具。
