Comparison of Vocal Loading Parameters in Kindergarten and Elementary School Teachers

• Published in: Journal of speech, language, and hearing research Vol. 57; no. 2; pp. 406 - 415
• Main Authors: Remacle, Angélique, Morsomme, Dominique, Finck, Camille
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) 01.04.2014; American Speech-Language-Hearing Association; American Speech Language Hearing Association
• Subjects: Adult; ambulatory monitoring; ambulatory phonation monitor; Child; Child, Preschool; College Faculty; Comparative Analysis; Demographic aspects; Differences; Elementary School Teachers; Elementary school teaching; Elementary schools; Faculty; Female; Human health sciences; Humans; Kindergarten; Middle Aged; Models, Biological; Occupational Diseases - physiopathology; occupational voice; Occupations; Oto-rhino-laryngologie; Otolaryngology; Physiological aspects; Preschool Teachers; Public health, health care sciences & services; Santé publique, services médicaux & soins de santé; Sciences de la santé humaine; Speech; Speech - physiology; Speech Acoustics; Speech disorders; Speech perception; Studies; teacher; Teacher Characteristics; Teaching; vocal load; Voice - physiology; voice accumulation; voice assessment; Voice Disorders; Voice Disorders - physiopathology; voice dosimetry; Weight-Bearing - physiology; Belgium
• ISSN: 1092-4388; 1558-9102; 1558-9102
• DOI: 10.1044/2013_JSLHR-S-12-0351

Purpose: Although a global picture exists of teachers' voice demands in general, few studies have compared specific groups of teachers to determine whether some are more at risk than others. This study compared the vocal loadings of kindergarten and elementary school teachers; professional and nonprofessional vocal load were determined for both groups. Method: Twelve kindergarten and 20 elementary school female teachers without voice problems were monitored during 1 workweek using the Ambulatory Phonation Monitor. Vocal loading parameters analyzed were F0, SPL, time dose, distance dose, and cycle dose. Results: Comparisons between the groups showed significantly higher cycle dose and distance dose for kindergarten teachers than for elementary school teachers, in both professional and nonprofessional environments. Professional and nonprofessional voice use comparisons showed significant differences for all parameters, indicating that vocal load was higher in the professional environment for both groups. Conclusions: The higher vocal doses measured in kindergarten teachers suggest that particular attention should be paid to this specific group of teachers. Although nonprofessional vocal load is lower than professional vocal load, it is important to take both into account because of their cumulative effects.