title: Voice Handicap Index and Interpretation of the Cutoff Points Using Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve as Screening for Young Adult Female Smokers.
abstract: The relationship between smoking and alterations of the vocal tract and larynx is well known. This pathology leads to the degradation of voice performance in daily living. Multiple assessment methods of vocal tract and larynx have been developed, and in recent years they were enriched with self-reported questionnaires such as Voice Handicap Index (VHI). This study determined the cutoff points of VHI's total score and its three domains for young female smokers in Greece. These estimated cutoff points could be used by voice specialists as an indicator for further clinical evaluation (foreseeing a potential risk of developing a vocal symptom because of smoking habits). A sample of 120 female nondysphonic smokers (aged 18-31) was recruited. Participants filled out the VHI and Voice Evaluation Form. VHI's cutoff point of total score was calculated at the value of 19.50 (sensitivity: 0.780, 1-specificity: 0.133). Specifically, the construct domain of functional was 7.50 (sensitivity: 0.900, 1-specificity: 0.217), for physical it was 8.50 (sensitivity: 0.867, 1-specificity: 0.483), and for emotional it was 7.50 (sensitivity: 0.833, 1-specificity: 0.200) through the use of receiver operating characteristic. Furthermore, VHI could be used as a monitoring tool for smokers and as a feedback for smoking cessation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, Ioannina, Greece. Electronic address: d.tafiadis@ioa.teiep.gr.
authors.forename: Dionysios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tafiadis
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Biopolis, Larissa, Greece.
authors.forename: Evangelia I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Kosma
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, Arta, Greece.
authors.forename: Spyridon K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Chronopoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Karamandanio General Children's Hospital NHS, Patra, Greece.
authors.forename: Aggelos
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papadopoulos
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Drosos
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Vassiliki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Siafaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Eugenia I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Toki
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech and Language Therapy, Technological Educational Institute of Epirus, Ioannina, Greece.
authors.forename: Nausica
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ziavra
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D012372:ROC Curve; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014831:Voice; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cutoff scores; Females; Screening; Smoking cessation; Voice Handicap Index