Comparative Utility of Voice Symptom Scale, Voice Handicap Index, and GRBAS in Assessing Voice Disorders: A Clinical Study

Voice disorders are routinely encountered in modern Otorhinolaryngology clinical practice. The assessment of voice disorders involves subjective and objective parameters to evaluate the impact of vocal impairments. This study aims to compare the Voice Symptom Scale (VoiSS), Voice Handicap Index (VHI), and Grade, Roughness, Breathiness, Asthenia, Strain (GRBAS) scales in diagnosing and monitoring treatment outcomes in individuals with voice disorders. A cross sectional study of 100 patients aged 18-60 years diagnosed with voice disorders participated in the study conducted at an outpatient department of tertiary otolaryngology centre. Data collection spanned from January 2023 to December 2023. Data from 100 patients with diverse voice pathologies were analysed. Strong correlations were observed between VoiSS and VHI (r = 0.82, p < 0.01), and between GRBAS Grade and both VoiSS (r = 0.71) and VHI (r = 0.68). The emotional subscales of VHI and VoiSS showed weaker correlations with GRBAS (r = 0.45). The findings indicate that VoiSS and VHI complement GRBAS by capturing the psychosocial impacts of voice disorders, while GRBAS provides expert perceptual analysis of vocal quality. The study highlights the strengths and limitations of each measure, advocating their combined use for comprehensive voice disorder assessment.