Validation of the Brazilian Version of the Voice Disability Coping Questionnaire

Translation and Validation of an Arabic Version of the Voice Disability Coping Questionnaire

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESES

Voice disorders can significantly affect the quality of life. This study aimed to translate, culturally adapt, and validate an Arabic version of the voice disability coping questionnaire (A-VDCQ) for use in Arabic-speaking populations with dysphonia.

STUDY DESIGN

This was a cross-sectional study involving the translation and cultural adaptation of the VDCQ into Arabic. The validation process included reliability and validity assessments. Participants were categorized into cases (individuals with dysphonia) and controls (individuals without dysphonia) to compare coping strategies between the two groups.

METHODS

ccccccccThe 15-item VDCQ was translated from English into Arabic using the forward and backward translation methods. The questionnaire's reliability was assessed using Cronbach's alpha and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, ICC). Validity was evaluated by comparing cases and controls using the Mann-Whitney test. Differences in coping strategies across different diagnoses were examined using the Kruskal-Wallis test.

RESULTS

The A-VDCQ demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.769) and excellent test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.993). Significant differences in coping strategies between the cases and controls were also observed (P < 0.001), supporting the instrument's validity. Notably, item 4, which is related to information seeking, had the highest impact score among the cases. However, no statistically significant differences were found in coping strategies across different diagnoses (P = 0.249).

CONCLUSIONS

The A-VDCQ demonstrated robust psychometric properties for assessing coping strategies in individuals with voice disorders and such strategies' potential implications for clinical practice and research.

Reducing the GAP between science and clinic: lessons from academia and professional practice - part A: perceptual-auditory judgment of vocal quality, acoustic vocal signal analysis and voice self-assessment

During the XXVIII Brazilian Congress of SBFa, 24 specialists met and, from a leading position on scientific research as a tool for connecting laboratory and clinic, five fronts of knowledge of the voice specialty were discussed as following: Perceptual-auditory judgment of vocal quality; 2. Acoustic analysis of the vocal signal; 3. Voice self-assessment; 4. Traditional techniques of therapy; 5. Modern techniques of electrostimulation and photobiomodulation (PBMT) in voice. Part "a" of this publication was associated with the consolidation of the analyses of the first three aspects. The trend in the perceptual-auditory judgment of vocal quality was related to the use of standard protocols. The acoustic evaluation of the vocal signal is accessible and can be done descriptively or by extraction of parameters, thus preferring multiparametric measures. Finally, the analysis of the individual himself closes this triad of voice documentation, which will be the basis for the conclusion of the evaluation, reference for monitoring progress, and evaluation of treatment results.

Reducing the GAP between science and clinic: lessons from academia and professional practice - part A: perceptual-auditory judgment of vocal quality, acoustic vocal signal analysis and voice self-assessment

ABSTRACT During the XXVIII Brazilian Congress of SBFa, 24 specialists met and, from a leading position on scientific research as a tool for connecting laboratory and clinic, five fronts of knowledge of the voice specialty were discussed as following: Perceptual-auditory judgment of vocal quality; 2. Acoustic analysis of the vocal signal; 3. Voice self-assessment; 4. Traditional techniques of therapy; 5. Modern techniques of electrostimulation and photobiomodulation (PBMT) in voice. Part “a” of this publication was associated with the consolidation of the analyses of the first three aspects. The trend in the perceptual-auditory judgment of vocal quality was related to the use of standard protocols. The acoustic evaluation of the vocal signal is accessible and can be done descriptively or by extraction of parameters, thus preferring multiparametric measures. Finally, the analysis of the individual himself closes this triad of voice documentation, which will be the basis for the conclusion of the evaluation, reference for monitoring progress, and evaluation of treatment results.

Sense of Coherence and Coping Strategies in Patients With Dysphonia

AIM

To analyze sense of coherence (SOC) of dysphonic individuals considering the type and degree of dysphonia, coping strategies, and sociodemographic variables.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was performed with 50 dysphonic individuals under follow-up at a Brazilian Speech-Language Pathology Clinic. They answered a questionnaire with sociodemographic information, the PEED-10 (Brazilian Voice Disability Coping Questionnaire) and the Brazilian version of Sense of Coherence scale. The SOC was categorized as high or low using Cluster analysis. After descriptive analysis, data were analyzed through both the bivariate and multivariate logistic regression model method and the Spearman's correlation test (P< 0.05).

RESULTS

Most individuals presented a high SOC (60%). Individuals with mild dysphonia were 7.00 times more likely to present high SOC (95% CI = 1.24-39.38).  Individuals between 45 and 70 years old were 5.03 times more likely to present high SOC (95% CI = 1.25-20.28). In addition, the higher SOC, as well as the scores of manageability domain, the lower the use of strategies focused on emotion.

CONCLUSION

Patients with mild dysphonia are more likely to have a high SOC. The same goes for individuals over the fourth decade of life. Also, the greater the SOC, the fewer emotional strategies are used to cope with dysphonia.

Factor Analysis of the Persian Version of the Voice Disability Coping Questionnaire

INTRODUCTION

Voice disorders can affect the quality of life and coping mechanisms and also coping mechanisms can affect the way in which patients deal with their voice problems. People with voice disorders need to use coping strategies to deal with the problems caused by their voice disorder. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties and cultural adaptation of the Voice Disability Coping Questionnaire in the Iranian population.

METHODS

The translation and cross-cultural adaptation procedures were performed according to the basic rules and instructions set by the International Quality of Life Assessment Project. Two hundred and forty-eight adults (218 patients with voice disorder and 30 healthy controls) were participated in the study. Face and content validity, clinical validity, and construct validity of the questionnaire were investigated by modern psychometric methods.

RESULTS

Quantitative methods were used to measure content validity and all items were detected applicable. This means that the final version was clear and easy to answer. Clinical validity shows that the Persian version of VDCQ can distinguish between patients and healthy controls (P < 0.001). The construct validity of the VDCQ was tested in a cross-sectional study. The questionnaire was analyzed by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Investigation of initial communality and after extraction of factors by Varimax rotation method showed that the share of items for all items in the questionnaire except item 12, is higher than 0.5. Therefore, item 12 should be removed from the questionnaire (Table 3). Based on the confirmatory factor analysis model, items 2 and 10, whose factor load were less than 0.4, were excluded from the questionnaire (Fig. 1). For reliability the Cronbach's alpha coefficient and ICC were obtained as 0.82 and 0.99, respectively. The results of studying the role of items in the reliability of the VDCQ showed that all items increase internal consistency.

CONCLUSION

Based on modern statistical analysis conducted in this study, the original 15 item questionnaire was reduced to 12 item. The 12 item questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for quantifying coping strategies in people with voice disorder.

Cross-cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Persian Version of Voice Disability Coping Questionnaire (P-VDCQ): Introducing a New Instrument

OBJECTIVES

Coping is one of the important concepts in psychology, which is pertinent to how persons with illness manage the stress of that condition. Voice Disability Coping Questionnaire (VDCQ) is an assessment tool for quantifying coping strategies in those with voice disability. The purpose of the present study was to investigate reliability and validity of the Persian version of VDCQ (P-VDCQ).

METHOD

Translation procedure was performed according to the World Health Organization guidelines, and then 138 persons (88 persons with voice disorders and 50 controls) completed the questionnaire. Psychometric properties of the P-VDCQ were investigated.

RESULTS

There was a significant difference between the mean value of patients with dysphonia and that of the control group. The results of test-result reliability indicated that there is a high correlation between repeated administration of the questionnaire (intraclass correlation coefficient = 89.7). Also, a high Cronbach's alpha coefficient (α = 0.94) revealed a good internal consistency. Participants' scores in this instrument had a moderate correlation with their scores on Voice Activity Participation Profile-Persian version (r = 0.41, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The P-VDCQ is a reliable and a valid instrument that can be used to investigate coping strategies of patients with dysphonia in clinical settings and for research purposes.

Versões reduzidas para protocolo clínico de enfrentamento das disfonias

RESUMO O objetivo deste estudo é explorar duas versões reduzidas do Protocolo de Estratégias de Enfrentamento na Disfonia - PEED-27 e verificar suas correspondências com o protocolo original. Foi realizada uma análise retrospectiva de questionários PEED-27 de 100 indivíduos com queixa vocal 37 homens e 63 mulheres, com idade média de 43,7 anos, para comparação com versões reduzidas do instrumento. A análise dos três instrumentos mostrou que eles apresentam níveis de correlação elevados entre si e, portanto, seus resultados são comparáveis (PEED 27 x 15, r=+0,910, p< 0,001; PEED 27 x 10, r=+0,873, p<0,001; PEED 15 x 10, r=+0,924, p< 0,001). O PEED-10 e PEED-15 são as versões reduzidas e adaptadas para o português brasileiro e mostraram avaliar as estratégias de enfrentamento utilizadas por indivíduos disfônicos para enfrentar seu problema de voz. O clínico deve definir qual versão prefere usar, de acordo com o tempo disponível e seu interesse em maior ou menor detalhamento.