Parent and Child Responses to the Pediatric Voice-Related Quality-of-Life Questionnaire.

Objectives: When assessing pediatric dysphonia, there are different approaches that can be taken in gathering a subjective view of the impact voice difficulties have on a child. Most valid questionnaires require parent-proxy reporting, although it has become increasingly important to gather the views of children themselves. This study reports a pilot study of an adaptation to the Pediatric Voice-Related Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (PVRQoL).

Methods: A total of 24 parent and child dyads were recruited from a tertiary pediatric voice clinic. Children were aged between 3 years and 8 months and 15 years and 3 months. Parents completed the existing PVRQoL questionnaire, whereas their children were given a child-adapted version. Follow-up completion of the child questionnaire was conducted after a 2-week period.

Results: There was a good correlation between the two time periods when children completed the adapted PVRQoL and also between parent and child responses. Of particular interest, however, was the different ratings on individual items by parents and their children with parents tending to overestimate the extent to which their children may be emotionally affected by their voice disorder.

Conclusions: This study shows that children have much to tell about their own voice-related quality of life, so our conclusion is that they should also be self-assessed. The PVRQoL when adapted for use with children offers an additional insight that can be gathered in a relatively short timeframe and be considered with other assessments of vocal function.