Objective: Following a process of interviewing and surveying voice clinicians about their use of the Consensus Auditory Perceptual Evaluation of Voice (CAPE-V), we revised the protocol and form to address long-standing barriers to its standard use. We introduced the CAPE-V Revised (CAPE-Vr) and solicited feedback from voice clinicians and researchers who have experience using the original CAPE-V.
Methods/Design: An anonymous survey was introduced at the 2024 Fall Voice Conference. Participants (n=42 as of 10/29/24) were recruited via a poster presentation and a post on the conference discussion board. A QR code took them to a 10-minute survey where they responded to 21 questions about their practice, use of the CAPE-V and feedback about the CAPE-Vr. Revisions were described and shown in a draft version of the form. Participants were asked if they liked, did not like or were unsure of each of the revisions, and were given space to comment. The results will be reviewed by the authors, who recently submitted a manuscript detailing the rationale for these revisions.
Results: Preliminary results of the survey indicate that users generally approve of the revisions. Results through 10/29/24 show a majority of participants either like or are unsure of the changes:
• No textual severity markers below the scales – 50% like, 36% unsure
• One production of the vowels /_/ and /i/ instead of three – 71% like, 19% unsure
• Problematic sentences have been changed – 88% like, 2% unsure
• The extemporaneous speech prompt has been modified – 79% like, 12% unsure
• Pitch and loudness scales indicate direction, not extent of deviation – 74% like, 24% unsure
• Separate items for rating resonance and nasality have been added – 93% like, 5% unsure
• Observations of inconsistency have been organized by task – 76% like, 12% unsure
• Sections about the recording conditions and rating conditions have been added – 69% like, 26% unsure
Data collection is ongoing through 11/14/24.
Conclusions: To date, survey results generally support our evidence-based development of the CAPE-Vr. Clinician buy-in is critical to the implementation of the CAPE-Vr, which is intended to address the psychometric validity and administrative fidelity of the original.