Adaptation of the Speech Handicap Index into Turkish, validityand reliability study

This study aimed to adapt the Speech Handicap Index (SHI) developed for individuals with head-neck cancer (HNC) into Turkish and to examine its validity and reliability. The study included a total of 200 participants, comprising 93 individuals diagnosed with HNC and 107 healthy individuals who spoke Turkish fluently. Participants were asked to complete the SHI-TR, EORTC-QLQ-H&N-35 scales, and the Demographic Information Form. Twenty-eight participants were asked to complete the SHI and EORTC-QLQ-H&N-35 scales again after 14 days. Data was anaylsed via SPSS 25 program. For data analysis, t-tests, Mann–Whitney U tests, one-way ANOVAs, and Kruskal-Wallis H tests were used. For scale validity, exploratory factor analysis was used; for reliability, Cronbach's alpha and test-retest Pearson correlation were calculated. The validity analysis demonstrated that the scale met the construct and criterion validity criteria; the reliability analysis revealed an excellent reliability coefficient (α = 0.92). It was concluded that the SHI-TR is a valid and reliable scale for assessing speech-related problems in Turkish-speaking individuals diagnosed with head and neck cancer.