An investigation of the Voice Handicap Index with speakers of Portuguese: preliminary data

Abstract

Although the Voice Handicap Index (VHI) has been recognized as a useful tool for quantifying American English speakers' perceived consequences of voice disorder, it has not yet been widely applied in the clinic to study dysphonic patient populations, or tested with a normally speaking population. The purpose of this investigation was to obtain information about the VHI in a group of Portuguese speakers with voice complaints compared with an age- and gender-matched group of speakers without voice complaints. The results demonstrate that speakers with voice complaints have overall VHI total scores significantly higher than speakers without voice complaints (p < 0.001). This is also true for all VHI subscores in the emotional (p < 0.001), functional (p < 0.05), and physical (p < 0.001) domains. So, the assumption that a group with voice complaints has higher voice handicap impact than the matched control comparison group is justified for Portuguese speakers.