The application of pediatric voice handicap index in children with voice disorders

Objective To access the influence of voice disorders on children′s voice-related quality of life through the parental version of pediatric voice handicap index (pVHI). Methods From April 2017 to March 2018, a total of 192 children with voice disorders (dysphonic group) and 111 children without voice disorders (control group) were enrolled in this work. Parents of children in both groups were asked for fill out the questionnaire containing the parental version of pVHI and the data of non-normal distribution were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test. Spearman test was used for correlation analysis. Results (1)Vocal cord nodule was the most common voice disorder in children, and boys were more susceptible to voice disorder than girls in this study (70.3%(135/192) vs 29.7%(57/192)). (2)The most common voice abuse or misuse habit was "Shouting loudly". (3)In dysphonic group, the scores of function, physiology, emotion and total were higher than those in control group (all P<0.05). (4)In dysphonic group, there was a weak correlation between the parents′ overall evaluation of the children′s voice status and the three dimensions of the parental version of pVHI (function: r=0.339, physiology: r=0.334, emotion: r=0.208, all P<0.001). Conclusions Voice disorders can cause a negative impact on children′s quality of life. Parental version of pVHI can be used to assess the voice-related quality of life in children with voice disorders. Key words: Voice disorders; Child; Articulation disorders; Voice handicap index