Exploring the relationship between severity of dysphonia and voice-related quality of life.
OBJECTIVE
To explore whether severity and/or consistency of dysphonia are linked to voice-related quality of life.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Specialist voice clinics, University Teaching Hospital.


METHODS
Sixty adult patients attending with a primary complaint of dysphonia. Exclusion criteria were those below 16 years of age, transexual patients and those with a persistent dysphonia of >2 years.


METHODS
Voice-related quality of life as assessed by VoiSS. EXPLANATORY FACTORS: Severity of dysphonia as judged by perceptual ratings of voice (GRBAS); a visual analogue scale to judge best, worst and today's voice.


RESULTS
There was a highly significant correlation between perceptual dysphonia severity as assessed by GRBAS and the total, impairment and emotional subsets of the VoiSS questionnaire (r from 0.48 to 0.64). There was a similar and highly significant correlation between best, worst and today's self-rated voice and the total, impairment and emotional subsets of the VoiSS questionnaire (r from -0.40 to -0.60). However, none of the self-rated parameters was demonstrably better at explaining the effect on quality of life.


CONCLUSIONS
An increasingly negative effect on quality of life appears to be associated with an increase in the severity of dysphonia. Further research on the role of quality of life measures in the assessment and treatment of dysphonia would be of value.
Jones
S M
SM
Department of Speech and Language Therapy, South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust, Manchester, UK. suem.jones@smuht.nwest.nhs.uk
Carding
P N
PN
Drinnan
M J
MJ
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D011788:Quality of Life; D012107:Research Design; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D014833:Voice Quality