Reliability of measuring vocal self-assessment protocols through digital platform and in-person

Objective: To verify the reliability of the measurement of the vocal self-assessment protocols through a digital platform and in-person.

Methods/Design: Cross-sectional observational design study (approved by the Research Ethics Committee #5179037). The sample consisted of 50 individuals with vocal complaints, 36 females and 14 males, with a median age of 45 years, who were not in the process of voice therapy. The participants answered a questionnaire elaborated on by the authors for sample selection. The self-assessment protocols Voice Handicap Index (VHI-10) and the Voice Symptom Scale (VoiSS) were answered by the participants in two moments: a first moment in the digital platform performed by Google Forms without the presence of a speech-language pathologist (SLP) and a second moment in the in-person modality with the presence of an SLP. The interval between the data collection moments was between two and 14 days. Data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially using SPSS 25.0 software. Inferential analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon test (p<0.05).

Results: In the complete sample and the female participants, there is the presence of significantly lower scores in the self-perception of vocal symptoms in the emotional factor in the in-person modality (p=0.007; p=0.029, respectively) in relation to the digital platform. There was no difference in the other vocal symptom domains and the perceived voice handicap for the general sample and the female gender. For males, there was no difference between the modalities for any domain and the self-assessment instrument.

Conclusions: Participants perceived their voice handicap similarly in both assessment modalities. The VoiSS, validated in an in-person modality in Brazilian Portuguese, specifically in the emotional domain, although with deviated results in both modalities, was unreliable for application through a digital platform.