Normative values for the Spanish Version of the VHI-10

INTRODUCTION: The goal of the study was to establish normative values for the Voice Handicap Index Scale, in its short form of only 10 items (VHI-10) in a Spanish sample without voice problem from a large area of southeastern Spain. METHOD: The sample consisted of 709 adults, aged 18 to 92 years, of whom 361 were women and 348 were men. Inclusion criteria were to be native Spanish speakers, to be over 18 years of age or older, to be able to complete the VHI-10 independently, and to not have suffered a formally-diagnosed voice disorder before or at the moment of the study. RESULTS: The normative values obtained for the VHI-10 scale were a mean score of 4.70 and a standard deviation of 2.91. The cut-off threshold was established at a score of 10.5. Percentile values were also calculated. CONCLUSION: The current study presents normative values for the VHI-10 scale that have not previously been available in Spain. It is expected that these values can be used as a reference to detect possible voice disorders and to grade vocal disorders.