RESUMO
PURPOSE: This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt and validate the Hong Kong-Chinese version of the Vocal fatigue index (VFI(HK)). METHOD: The original English version of the Vocal fatigue index (VFI) was translated and adapted to the VFI(HK). A total of 206 subjects (87 in the Fatigue group and 119 in the Control group) completed the VFI(HK) and validity, reliability and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) were analysed. RESULT: The VFI(HK) exhibited satisfactory psychometric properties. It showed good content validity (scale-level content validity indices ≥ 0.842) and excellent internal consistency (Part 1: αâ¯=â¯0.945, Part 2: αâ¯=â¯0.914, Part 3: αâ¯=â¯0.951). Parts 1 and 2 of the questionnaire showed good construct validity (Part 1: t(204)â¯=â¯5.743, P < 0.001; Part 2: t(204)â¯=â¯5.049, P < 0.001). Test-retest reliability ranged from acceptable (Part 3: Ρâ¯=â¯0.702) to good (Part 1: Ρâ¯=â¯0.885, Part 2: Ρâ¯=â¯0.827). ROC curves showed acceptable and close-to-acceptable intrinsic accuracies for Parts 1 (Aera under curve (AUC)â¯=â¯0.712) and 2 (AUCâ¯=â¯0.694) respectively. Cutoff scores of 25 and 10 are suggested for Parts 1 and 2 respectively. CONCLUSION: The VFI(HK) is a valid and sensitive assessment tool. It may be adopted to identify individuals with vocal fatigue in the Hong Kong-Chinese population.