Aim: the purpose of this study was to translate and adapt the English version of the Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI) into the Spanish language. Methods: the English version of the Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI) was translated into Spanish by two bilingual speech-language pathologists, and then was back-translated into English. The Spanish VFI (o “Índice de Fatiga Vocal”, IFV) was administrated to a pilot group of 10 individuals, which revealed some small typographical and grammatical adjustments to the index. The final updated version was then administrated to 34 subjects (21 with voice disorders, and 13 without voice disorders). Internal consistency and scale reliability were analyzed using Cronbach alpha coefficient. Results: a high Cronbach alpha coefficient for the three factors (0.87) was obtained. The results of the item role in reliability of the Spanish VFI demonstrated that all of them showed a positive role according to this criterion. The results of the ANOVA indicate a statistically significant difference between groups on the three scores of the Spanish translation of the VFI. In comparison to the healthy participants, those with voice disorders obtained statistically significant higher scores for the Spanish VFI subscales. Conclusion: the present study suggests that the Spanish translation of the Vocal Fatigue Index has a good internal consistency and high reliability on each of the three factors. The results suggest that the Spanish VFI can be used reliably to identify persons with vocal fatigue and has good clinical validity.
Introducción: el docente es un profesional que presenta riesgo para el desarrollo de patologías vocales consideradas enfermedades laborales. En Viña del Mar, el Instituto de seguridad del trabajo (IST) es un centro de referencia para las atenciones médicas de enfermedades laborales. El objetivo del estudio consiste en establecer la incidencia y prevalencia de profesores de Viña del Mar, Chile, que concurrieron al IST con quejas vocales entre 2012 y 2017. Metodología: se adoptó un enfoque cuantitativo, retrospectivo, descriptivo, correlacional y de diseño no experimental. La muestra estuvo conformada por 186 profesores que presentaron quejas vocales relacionadas con su desempeño laboral. Resultados: 167 docentes mujeres y 19 docentes hombres consultaron por problemas vocales; 64.5% docentes de la muestra realizan clases en educación básica. Ningún docente universitario accedió al IST con este tipo de queja. El diagnóstico más recurrente fue de disfonías orgánico-funcionales (75,8%), de las cuales 69,5% fueron dirigidas a terapia vocal en el IST. 14,1% de los docentes fueron diagnosticados con disfonía funcional (también fueron enviados a terapia); sin embargo, 9,4% de los casos, al no cumplir con las características de origen exclusivamente laboral, no recibieron terapia fonoaudiológica en el IST. Conclusión: el docente chileno en la V Región presenta un bajo nivel de consulta por patologías vocales. Los docentes de educación básica son los que más buscan terapia profesional para su voz y la mayor cantidad de afecciones se relacionan con un deficiente conocimiento de técnicas y/o hábitos vocales inadecuados. Es necesaria una inversión mayor en promoción y prevención vocal para este grupo profesional.
Introduction. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching conditions changed around the world from in-person classes to online classes, which also determined changes on teachers’ working conditions. Method: Exploratory cross-sectional study with the aim of determining the association between two voice symptoms (vocal fatigue and throat pain) with home working conditions during online classes in times of COVID-19 pandemic. Professors answered an online survey including 27 questions about four components: sociodemographic factors, characteristics of home working, quarantine characteristics, and health conditions (including voice functioning). Results: 177 college professors from Argentina, Colombia, and Chile participated in this study. First, incidence of vocal fatigue, during online classes in times of COVID-19 pandemic, represented around 50%. Although throat pain had a smaller incidence, it was also important (35%). Second, days in quarantine, number of classes per week, people living with during quarantine, and history of vocal fatigue before quarantine were important associated factors of vocal fatigue. Third, important associated factors of throat pain were number of classes per week, level of stress, years of experience, and history of throat pain before quarantine. Conclusion: Similar to pre-COVID-19, vocal fatigue and throat pain were frequently reported voice symptoms among college professors. Associated factors of these symptoms included years of experience, number of classes per week, stress, people living with during quarantine due to COVID-19, and history of voice symptoms. Workplace Health Promotion programs should include activities that facilitate a healthy occupational voice use during and post-COVID-19 pandemic, considering the implications of online teaching on teachers’ health and safety.
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