Prevalidation of the First German Version of the Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI)

Prevalidation of the First German Version of the Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI)"

Vocal fatigue has been described as a common complaint in patients with voice disorders, however to date there is no standardized questionnaire in german language to assess specific symptoms. Main aim of this study is to assess the validity of the first german version of the Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI), and english questionnaire developed for voice patients to assess vocal fatigue.

In this study patients with voice disorders will receive the patient based questionnaires "Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI)", "Voice Handicap Index 9 international (VHI 9i)" and "Vocal Tract Discomfort Scale (VTD)", the study information and consent letter together with the standard invitation letter to a voice assessment at the Department for Phoniatrics and Speech Pathology University Hospital Zurich. Data of 93 consecutive volunteering patients will be collected. Furthermore a retest using the VFI will be conducted after 1 week with 10 volunteers. Thereafter construct validity of the VFI as compared to the established voice symptom questionnaires VHI 9i and VTD will be investigated. Further test-retest reliability will be determined.

Inclusion Criteria:

• age > 18 years
• voice disorder (all etiologies)

Exclusion Criteria:

• age < 18 Jahre
• current voice therapy
• psychological disease
• botox injection in the Larynx
• inability to independently fill out the questionnaire