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Jeffrey P. Simons, MD; Clark A. Rosen, MD; Margaretha L. Casselbrant, MD, PhD; David H. Chi, MD; Barry M. Schaitkin, MD; Elaine N. Rubinstein, PhD; David L. Mandell, MD

Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2008;134(8):837-841.

Objective  To examine correlations between the Pediatric Voice Outcome Survey (PVOS) score, the Reflux Symptom Index (RSI) score, the Reflux Finding Score (RFS), and esophageal biopsy findings in children undergoing upper aerodigestive tract endoscopy.

Design  Retrospective review of pediatric voice quality-of-life and laryngopharyngeal reflux surveys. Blinded assessment of endoscopic laryngeal images.

Setting  Tertiary care children's hospital.

Patients  The study included 36 children with the primary problem of dysphonia (n = 28) or cough (n = 8) who underwent endoscopy.

Interventions  The PVOS and the RSI were adminstered to the patient's parents before surgery. The patients underwent laryngotracheobronchoscopy and esophageal biopsy. Four raters independently assigned an RFS to the laryngeal photographs.

Main Outcome Measures  The assessment included (1) PVOS scores, RSI scores, and RFSs; (2) internal consistency of PVOS and RSI scores; (3) RFS intrarater and interrater reliability; and (4) correlations between PVOS score, RSI score, RFS, and esophageal biopsy findings.

Results  The mean (SD) age of the patients was 7.5 (2.6) years; the mean (SD) PVOS score, 71.9 (21.4); and the mean (SD) RSI score, 16.2 (9.1). The PVOS and the RSI scores demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach  = 0.79 and 0.78, respectively). The RFS exhibited good intrarater reliability (r = 0.66-0.98) and moderate interrater reliability (r = 0.32-0.70). The PVOS and RSI instruments displayed significant correlation (r = –0.30; P = .04). There were no other significant correlations between RFSs, esophageal biopsy results, PVOS scores, or RSI scores (P > .05).

Conclusions  The RSI may be a useful parent-proxy instrument in addition to the PVOS for pediatric voice patients. The RFS is reliable in children, but its validity could not be demonstrated in this patient population.

Author Affiliations: Department of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh (Drs Simons, Casselbrant, Chi, and Mandell), Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (Drs Simons, Rosen, Casselbrant, Chi, Schaitkin, and Mandell), and Office of Measurement and Evaluation of Teaching, University of Pittsburgh (Dr Rubinstein), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.