Vocal Handicap Index in Patients with Otorhinolaryngological Complaints

Vocal quality is considered the most complete attribute of an individual, providing clues about the physical, psychological, and social characteristics. Self-assessment is a way to analyze the vocal difficulties from the viewpoint of the patient. The protocol Voice Handicap Index (VHI) was translated and validated for Brazilian Portuguese as Índice de Desvantagem Vocal (IDV), and fulfills the principles of vocal quality in relation to the clinical monitoring concerning the individuals with voice complaints. Thus, the present study intended to characterize the profile of the individuals and their answers indicated in the VHI, all of them with otorhinolaryngological complaints, which sought specialized treatment. At the end of this study, we can conclude that the results obtained through the answers in the survey of VHI, for the sample studied, showed the following profile: the age group ranged from 18 to 82 years, with a concentration in 31 to 50 years, and the female sex with highest number of cases and predominantly in functional dysphonia diagnosis. The emotional dimension of VHI showed significant direct correlation with age, that is, higher the patient’s age, higher the values tend to be obtained in this variable. There is a significant difference in the values of Organic-VHI, Emotional-VHI, and Total-VHI for the three types of otorhinolaryngological diagnosis. Thus, with respect to the size of Organic-VHI, with higher records by the study sample, the functional dysphonia presents values significantly below the types of organic dysphonia and organofunctional dysphonia.