Correlation between Acoustic Parameters and Voice Handicap Index in Dysphonic Teachers

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between acoustic analysis and biopsychosocial implications of voice problems, evaluated by the Voice Handicap Index (VHI). Materials and Methods: The study comprised 120 female teachers with voice disorders, evaluated by videolaryngostroboscopy. 60.8% of this group were diagnosed as having functional dysphonia and 39.2% had dysphonia with benign vocal fold masses (nodules and polyps). The controls consisted of 30 euphonic women. The correlations between VHI and acoustic analysis were assessed in both groups using the Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis. Results: In teachers, the total VHI score was over 5 times as high as in controls (p < 0.001). Moreover, in teachers, significant positive correlations were found between the total VHI score and the frequency perturbation parameters and amplitude perturbation parameters when both statistical methods were used. These acoustic parameters also significantly correlated with the score on the functional and emotional subscales, but rarely with the physical subscale of the VHI. Conclusions: The study revealed a significant relationship between the objective voice measurements and the VHI. The results confirmed that VHI can be a valuable tool for assessing biopsychosocial implications of occupational dysphonia and should be incorporated in multidimensional voice evaluation. Copyright (C) 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel