Cross-cultural adaptation of the Chilean version of the Voice Symptom Scale - VoiSS

This research aims to accomplish the cross-cultural equivalence of the Chilean version of the VoiSS protocol through its cultural and linguistic adaptation. After the translation of the VoiSS protocol to Chilean Spanish by two bilingual speech therapists and its back translation to English, we compared the items of the original tool with the previous translated version. The existing discrepancies were modified by a consensus committee of five speech therapists and the translated version was entitled Escala de Sintomas Vocales - ESV, with 30 questions and five answers: "Never", "Occasionally", "Sometimes", "Most of the time", "Always". For cross-cultural equivalence, the protocol was applied to 15 individuals with vocal problems. In each question the option of "Not applicable" was added to the answer choices for identification of the questions not comprehended or not appropriate for the target population. Two individuals had difficulty answering two questions, which made it necessary to adapt the translation of only one of them. The modified ESV was applied to three individuals with vocal problems, and there were incomprehensible inappropriate questions for the Chilean culture. The ESV reflects the original English version, both in the number of questions and the limitations of the emotional and physical domains. There is now a cross-cultural equivalence of VoiSS in Chilean Spanish, titled ESV. The validation of the ESV for Chilean Spanish is ongoing.