The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence of voice disorders among kindergarten and first-grade students selected from some schools of Portland, Oregon, during early Fall, 1974. The essential questions to be answered by the investigation were: 1) What is the incidence of voice disorders in a kindergarten and firstgrade sample; 2) what are the types of voice deviations; 3) what is the severity of each voice problem; and 4) was the incidence similar for 2 males and females?The subjects were 619 students from five kindergarten and eight first-grade classrooms in Portland Public School District No. 1, Portland, Oregon. The sample was comprised of 340 males and 279 females, of which 243 were at the kindergarten level and 376 at the first-grade level. The socioeconomic levels ranged from upper-lower to middlemiddle class (Hegrenes, 1975).Voice samples of all subjects were obtained. The voice-disordered samples were recorded on an Ar-Tik' magnetic tape recorder, model 414.The same tape recorder, in conjunction with Ampex 620 speakers, was used to present the voice samples to the three judges. The Jewish Hospital Voice Profile, designed by Wilson (1971), was utilized to evaluate the voice samples. This profile permits a systematic method of consistent description of the prevalence and problems of voice disorders. The voice samples were rated on the profile by this investigator following training by two supervisors in the Voice Clinic, Portland State University. Interjudge reliability of 95 percent agreement was obtained with the two clinical supervisors, and intrajudge reliability of 100 percent agreement was obtained by this investigator on 20 randomly selected voice samples. Approximately 23 percent of the subjects evaluated exhibited voice disorders. Hoarseness was the most frequently occurring voice disorder with 22.6 percent of the total sample (or 98.6 percent of the voice-disordered sample); whereas, disorders of nasal resonance occurred among only 3.7 percent of the total sample (or 16.2 percent of the voice-disordered sample). The overlapping of percentages resulted 3 because both hoarseness and nasal resonance deviancies were present in 3.4 percent of the total sample (or 14.8 percent of the voice-disordered sample). Clinically significant voice disorders were found in approximately 18.5 percent of the total sample. The male-female percentage ratio was 25.6 percent and 21.2 percent, respectively. The first-gradekindergarten ratio was 25.0 percent and 19.8 percent, respectively, Chi square analyses, however, revealed no statistically significant relationship between sex and the incidence of voice disorders, or between grade level and the incidence of voice disorders. The majority (82.1 percent) of severity ratings of disorders of hoarseness ranged from ratings of 3.5 to 5 on the seven-point scale.The incidence of the present study was greater than the incidence of most other studies reported in the literature. Possible reasons for this are: 1) age of the sample, 2) skills of the evaluator(s),...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.