Validation of the Pediatric Voice-Related Quality-of-Life survey.

Objective: To validate the Pediatric Voice-Related Quality-of-Life (PVRQOL) survey, which was designed to assess voice changes over time in the pediatric population.

Design: Prospective longitudinal study.

Setting: Outpatient pediatric otolaryngology office practice.

Participants: One hundred twenty parents of children aged 2 through 18 years having a variety of otolaryngological diagnoses including disorders that affect the voice.

Interventions: The previously validated Pediatric Voice Outcomes Survey and the PVRQOL were jointly administered to the parents of the study participants. Test-retest reliability was accomplished by having 70 caregivers repeat the instrument 2 weeks after the initial visit. The Cronbach alpha value was calculated to determine reliability. Instrument validity was determined by examining convergent and discriminant validity.

Main Outcome Measure: Correlation of PVRQOL scores with Pediatric Voice Outcomes Survey scores.

Results: Reliability of the PVRQOL was established by evaluating the Cronbach alpha value (.96; P<.001) and by test-retest reliability (weighted kappa value, 0.8). Validity of the PVQROL was tested by evaluating its ability to show significant change in voice-related quality-of-life after adenoidectomy (discriminant validity) (P<.001). The PVQROL also proved valid when the overall score was correlated with the previously validated Pediatric Voice Outcomes Survey (r = 0.7; P<.001).

Conclusion: The PVRQOL is a more comprehensive survey than the previously validated Pediatric Voice Outcomes Survey and is another valid instrument to examine the health-related quality-of-life issues in pediatric voice disorders.