Assessment of Chinese-version voice outcome survey in patients with unilateral vocal cord paralysis.
BACKGROUND
To develop a Mandarin Chinese outcome measure for the assessment of quality of life among unilateral vocal cord paralysis (UVCP) patients.


METHODS
Voice Outcome Survey (VOS) was translated into Mandarin Chinese using a parallel model. The Chinese (Taiwan) version of the VOS (CVOS) was administered to 48 patients with symptomatic UVCP in a prospective manner; the CVOS was validated according to established criteria for reliability, validity, and longitudinal sensitivity.


RESULTS
CVOS demonstrates moderate test-retest reliability (r = 0.59, P < 0.001) and internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.63). CVOS significantly correlates with most of the subscales in the Mandarin Chinese (Taiwan) version of 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) with only two exceptions (GH, general health; VT, vitality). The standardized response mean for the CVOS total score is 1.91, indicating excellent sensitivity to detect clinical changes.


CONCLUSIONS
Performance characteristics of the CVOS are equivalent to the English-version VOS. CVOS is a valid tool to evaluate adults with UVCP-related problems among Chinese-speaking populations.
Fang
Tuan-Jen
TJ
Department of Otolaryngology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Keelung, Taiwan.
Li
Hsueh-Yu
HY
Gliklich
Richard E
RE
Chen
Ya-Hui
YH
Wang
Pa-Chun
PC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013070:Speech Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014177:Translations; D014826:Vocal Cord Paralysis / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D014834:Voice Training