An Investigation of the Quality of Life Scale Related to Voice Disorder in Adult Patients with Vocal Cord Paralysis

Several instruments designed to assess the impact of voice disorders on various aspects of physical, mental and social subjects, including the Voice Handicap Index. In patients with vocal cord paralysis, speech sounds are affected more than the other sub-systems. The aim of this study is to assess the quality of life in vocal cord paralysis patient with Voice Handicap Index.
A total of 10 subjects, including 9 men and 1 woman with age range of 23 to 55 years, were recruited for the present study. Sampling was performed between Julys to 15 August 2013 in speech therapy clinics in city of Mashhad. After completing the Persian version of questioner by patient, the data were analyzed using SPSS software with Pearson correlation test.
The Pearson correlation between subtests of the functional and emotional dimensions was 0.474, the functional and physical domains subtests 0.821 and the subtests of physical and emotional dimensions of 0.669 In present study, the relationship between functional and emotional domains of subtests was average, between emotional and physical domains subtests was strong and between physical and functional domains was very strong.
The impact of disabilities of voice disorders mainly differs from person to person and influenced by some factors such as occupation, work environment, family reactions to the quality of voice disorder and generally personality. Voice disorders in patients with vocal fold paralysis had a considerable impact on the quality of their lives. Patient-oriented assessments such as the voice handicap index to evaluate patients with vocal cord paralysis are recommended along with other speech evaluations.