Medical Journal of the Islamic Republic Of Iran

en Relation between Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and disease severity in Iranian patients with Parkinson’s disease Speech Therapy Speech Therapy Original Research Original Research Background: One third of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have mentioned “dysphonia” as their most debilitating communication deficit. Patient-based measurements, such as Voice Handicap Index (VHI) add necessary supplementary information to clinical and physiological assessment. There are a few studies about relation between VHI and disease severity in PD, although none of them showed any significant correlation. The goal of this study was to find correlation between these variables in Iranian PD patients. Method: This cross-sectional, analytical and non-interventional study was done on 23 PD patients who reported a voice disorder related to their disease. They were selected from attendants of movement disorders clinic of Hazrat Rasool Akram Hospital. The relationship between disease severity (according to Hoehn and Yahr/H&Y and Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale-part3 /UPDRS-III) and VHI questionnaire (and its 3 domains) was investigated based on patients’ sex, UPDRS-III score H&Y and VHI. Results: Total VHI and its 3 domains had no relationship with disease severity (H&Y) in all patients and by sex separation. However, there was a positive correlation between VHI and disease severity (UPDRS-III) (r=0.485). There was also a relation between physical and functional domains of VHI and UPDRS (rP=0.530, rF=0.479) while no relationship observed regarding sex differences. 9 out of 18 UPDRS-III items had strong relationship with VHI (total and 3subscales). Conclusion: Iranian PD patients feel handicap according to voice disorder caused by PD. Patient satisfaction of voice decreases with the disease severity and progression. A larger sample size is necessary to find relationship in genders. VHI is an important issue could be offered to be used in PD beside other assessments. Parkinson’s disease, Disease severity, Voice, VHI, Quality of life. 157 163 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-552&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Fatemeh Majdinasab madjdinassab@yahoo.com 20031947532846007405 20031947532846007405 Yes Department of Speech Therapy, JundishapurUniversity of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. Siamak Karkheiran karkheiran@gmail.com 20031947532846007406 20031947532846007406 No Movement Disorders Clinic, Rasool Akram Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Negin Moradi neginmoradist@gmail.com 20031947532846007407 20031947532846007407 No Speech & language pathology department, Jundishapur Universityof Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. Gholm Ali Shahidi gholamali.shahidi@gmail.com 20031947532846007408 20031947532846007408 No Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Masoud Salehi salehi74@yahoo.com 20031947532846007409 20031947532846007409 No Faculty of Management and Medical Informatics, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.