Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Osaka Police Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
Laryngoscope. 2024 Jun;134(6):2805-2811. doi: 10.1002/lary.31230. Epub 2023 Dec 19.
The acoustic voice quality index (AVQI) is a reliable tool that objectively assesses dysphonia levels using six acoustic parameters. Despite its high criterion-related concurrent validity, diagnostic accuracy, and minimal detectable change derived from test-retest reliability, the minimal important difference (MID) of the AVQI has not been tested before. This study aimed to estimate the MIDs of AVQI for improvement audibly perceived by clinicians and self-reported improvement by patients.
A retrospective study was conducted on 110 patients who received treatment for voice disorders. Patients completed AVQI and Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) questionnaires before and after the therapy. The MIDs of the AVQI were estimated using the anchor of either auditory-perceptual judgment of total dysphonia levels by clinicians or the VHI-10 questionnaire by patients. A distribution-based approach was also used to complement the results.
First, using the auditory-perceptual anchor, a decrease of 0.95 in the AVQI was estimated as the MID for clinicians' perception, as a result of the receiver operating curve. Then, using the patient-reported anchor, an improvement of 1.36 in the AVQI was estimated as the MID for patients' voice-related disability. The distribution-based approach also ensured the anchor-based results of both the MIDs.
The AVQI is a reliable and valid tool for evaluating voice quality, and a 0.95 decrease in the AVQI represents a meaningful improvement for clinicians' perception, whereas a 1.36 decrease in the AVQI influences patients' self-reported disability. This study contributes to understanding the minimal change necessary for clinicians to make informed decisions and ensure patient satisfaction.
3 Laryngoscope, 134:2805-2811, 2024.
声学语音质量指数（AVQI）是一种可靠的工具，它使用六个声学参数客观评估嗓音障碍程度。尽管其具有高的准则相关的同时效度、诊断准确性和源于重测信度的最小可检测变化，但 AVQI 的最小临床重要差异（MID）尚未得到测试。本研究旨在估计 AVQI 的 MID，这些 MID 可被临床医生察觉到的改善以及患者报告的改善。
对 110 名接受嗓音障碍治疗的患者进行了回顾性研究。患者在治疗前后完成了 AVQI 和嗓音障碍指数 10 （VHI-10）问卷。使用临床医生对总嗓音障碍程度的听觉感知判断或患者的 VHI-10 问卷作为锚定物来估计 AVQI 的 MID。还使用基于分布的方法来补充结果。
首先，使用听觉感知锚定物，根据接收器操作曲线，AVQI 下降 0.95 被估计为临床医生感知的 MID。然后，使用患者报告的锚定物，AVQI 提高 1.36 被估计为患者与嗓音相关的残疾的 MID。基于分布的方法也保证了这两个 MID 的锚定结果。
AVQI 是一种评估嗓音质量的可靠和有效的工具，AVQI 降低 0.95 代表了临床医生感知的有意义的改善，而 AVQI 降低 1.36 则影响了患者的自我报告残疾。本研究有助于理解临床医生做出决策和确保患者满意度所需的最小变化。
3 级喉镜，134:2805-2811，2024。
