Vocal Fatigue Among Teachers

Abstract

Recordings were made at the beginning and end of workdays of teachers who experience vocal fatigue (n = 22) and those who do not experience fatigue (n = 17). Those who experienced fatigue were recorded on days in which they did and did not fatigue. Both groups evaluated their vocal characteristics, each time they made a recording. Subsequently, a listener panel evaluated the same characteristics from the recordings. Both groups estimated the amount and characteristics of their talking time, completed a psychological evaluation and provided medical histories. The authors interpret the data obtained as indicating that the vocal characteristics of teachers who fatigue and those who do not fatigue are similar on days the former group does not fatigue and that the two groups are similar in the amount and loudness of their talking time, at work and at home. However, teachers who fatigue tend to spend more time in activities that appear to be vocally demanding and are more likely to perceive situations as being anxiety producing. Teachers who fatigue tend to be in good health, but have had more hearing problems and allergies than their colleagues and more of their family members have had voice problems.

Proposta de modelo de atendimento multidisciplinar para disfonias relacionadas ao trabalho: estudo preliminar

“…4 Em contraposição, os operadores de teleatendimento têm disfonias mais precocemente (6 meses); pode-se mesmo inferir que o estresse emocional, ambiental, demanda e perfil dessa categoria favoreçam a alteração precoce. 1 O mesmo ocorreu com o pequeno contingente de sujeitos aqui observados.…”

“…Na presente amostra, o sintoma mais freqüente foi a disfonia e não a fadiga vocal, como se observa na literatura. 1,2,3,5,6,14 . Deve-se atentar, ainda, para o abuso vocal extra-trabalho, sintomas alérgicos, refluxo gastro-esofágico, alterações psí-quicas e hábitos (consumo tabágico).…”

“…Observa-se que há maior risco de ocorrência das disfonias nesses grupos profisionais, embora a prevalência e incidência sejam extremamente variáveis, entre 3 e 90%. [1][2][3][4][5][6] Os estudos ora realizados têm sido freqüentemente direcionados aos aspectos clínicos e orgânicos das disfonias em profissionais que utilizam a voz como instrumento de trabalho. Há evidências de que os nódulos de pregas vocais sejam a doença mais freqüente nesses profissionais, mas existe uma diversidade de outras alterações orgânicas e funcionais na laringe e trato respiratório que também podem causar disfonia 2 .…”

How Do Teachers With Self-Reported Voice Problems Differ From Their Peers With Self-Reported Voice Health?

“…Gotaas and Starr [27] compared teachers experiencing vocal fatigue to teachers, who did not experience vocal fatigue, and concluded that there were no voice-quality differences between the groups on non-vocal fatigue days. With three exceptions, all teachers in our study were examined after their workday.…”

“…reports of hoarseness in a teaching population and Gotaas and Starr [27] found voice quality to correlate to reports of voice fatigue at certain time-points.…”