Determinants and Effects of Voice Disorders among Secondary School Teachers in Peninsular Malaysia Using a Validated Malay Version of VHI-10

Abstract

ObjectivesTo establish the prevalence of voice disorder using the Malay-Voice Handicap Index 10 (Malay-VHI-10) and to study the determinants, quality of life, depression, anxiety and stress associated with voice disorder among secondary school teachers in Peninsular Malaysia.MethodsThis study was divided into two phases. Phase I tested the reliability of the Malay-VHI-10 while Phase II was a cross-sectional study with two-stage sampling. In Phase II, a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic and teaching characteristics, depression, anxiety and stress scale (Malay version of DASS-21); and health-related quality of life (Malay version of SF12-v2). Complex sample analysis was conducted using multivariate Poisson regression with robust variance.ResultsIn Phase I, the Spearman correlation coefficient and Cronbach alpha for total VHI-10 score was 0.72 (p < 0.001) and 0.77 respectively; showing good correlation and internal consistency. The ICCs ranged from 0.65 to 0.78 showing fair to good reliability and demonstrating the subscales to be reliable and stable. A total of 6039 teachers participated in Phase II. They were primarily Malays, females, married, had completed tertiary education and aged between 30 to 50 years. A total of 10.4% (95% CI 7.1, 14.9) of the teachers had voice disorder (VHI-10 score > 11). Compared to Malays, a greater proportion of ethnic Chinese teachers reported voice disorder while ethnic Indian teachers were less likely to report this problem. There was a higher prevalence ratio (PR) of voice disorder among single or divorced/widowed teachers. Teachers with voice disorder were more likely to report higher rates of absenteeism (PR: 1.70, 95% CI 1.33, 2.19), lower quality of life with lower SF12-v2 physical (0.98, 95% CI 0.96, 0.99) and mental (0.97, 95% CI 0.96, 0.98) component summary scales; and higher anxiety levels (1.04, 95% CI 1.02, 1.06).ConclusionsThe Malay-VHI-10 is valid and reliable. Voice disorder was associated with increased absenteeism, marginally associated with reduced health-related quality of life as well as increased anxiety among teachers.

Primary school teachers are at risk to suffer from dysphonia

“…In contrary, our study revealed that the gender determinant had no significant association, which was supported by the similar findings by Moy et al (2015) in Malaysia among secondary school teachers.…”

“…In a recent research conducted among secondary schools teachers in Malaysia, Moy et al, (2015) found a higher prevalence of voice disorders (10.4%) utilizing the similar research tool, which makes this a good point of comparison. The higher prevalence may be explained by the disproportion Sundram, R. E., Bachok, A. N., Ibrahim, I. M., Husain, N. R. N., Mohamad, H., Moy, M. F. & Shafei, N. M. (2017).…”

“…Dysphonia refers to voice changes characterized by abnormality of pitch, volume, resonance and/or quality which can be inconsistent or constant, ranging from mild to severe and which may be inappropriate for the speaker (Moy et al, 2015). In short, dysphonia is expressed as any difficulty in vocal emission that interferes with natural voice (Munier & Kinsella, 2007).…”

Voice Disorders among Academic Staff at King Saud University Medical College (Comparison between Basic Science and Clinical Staff)

“…Presence of LPR can be detected by Reflux symptom index questionnaire which contain 9 questions about past month symptoms of reflux [10]. Smoking, caffeine intake, voice abuse, noisy background, history of trauma or surgery and female gender are all considered risk factors for voice disorders [5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. Although a trial of proton pump inhibitors has been suggested to be cost-effective for treatment and diagnosis of LPR.…”

Absenteísmo por distúrbios da voz em professores: revisão da literatura, 2005-2015

“…Todos os resultados de que trataram os 15 artigos se basearam em estudos transversais. Trata-se de um desenho adequado, ainda que não autorize a inferência causal sobre a prevalência de doenças e fatores associados 13,15 . Os resultados dos estudos transversais são valiosos ao sugerir associações que permitem explorar hipóteses plausíveis, as quais, por sua vez, suscitam aprofundamento das investigações.…”