Prevalence of Voice Disorders in Indian Female Secondary School Teacher Population-A Cross Sectional Study
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Prevalence of Voice Disorders in Indian Female Secondary School Teacher Population-A Cross Sectional Study Anagha A. Joshi1 • Prathibha Mukundan1 Nikhil R. Dhorje1
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Varun J. Dave1 • Renuka A. Bradoo1
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Received: 5 September 2019 / Accepted: 15 September 2020 Ó Association of Otolaryngologists of India 2020
Abstract Teachers are the backbone of any civilized society as they are the keepers of knowledge, wisdom and values. Lack of infrastructure, manpower and resources makes voice the most important tool for a teacher. Teachers need to speak loudly for long periods often under unfavourable circumstances. Increased vocal effort and incorrect phonation techniques can lead to vocal fold tissue damage and vocal fold pathologies and hence voice problems producing adverse effects on teaching performance. To study the prevalence of voice disorders in Indian female secondary school teacher population. To identify the risk factors for the development of voice disorders. A multicentric, cross-sectional observational study of 200 teachers were conducted in 4 schools over a period of 2 years. Female teachers who gave consent and were willing for follow up were included in the study. Details were collected using a structured questionnaire. Subjective analysis by VHI, perceptual analysis by GRABS score, acoustic analysis and direct visualization using Hopkins 70° rigid laryngoscope were done.The prevalence of voice disorders was 18.5%. Risk factors identified were age group 41–60 years, repeated respiratory allergies, comorbidities, constitutional symptoms, increased number of years of teaching and number of lecture hours per week. VHI, GRABS, Acoustic analysis findings were consistent with Rigid Laryngoscopic finding making them effective tools in the assessment of voice. Keywords Voice disorders in teachers VHI GRABS Acoustic analysis Rigid laryngoscopy Indian female teachers & Prathibha Mukundan [email protected] 1
Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and General Hospital, Sion, Mumbai 400022, India
Introduction Teachers are the backbone of any civilized society as they propagate knowledge, wisdom and social values. Their job entails speaking loudly for a long period of time causing vocal fatigue, and this makes them susceptible to hyperfunctional voice disorders with or without vocal fold damage. Voice disorders manifest as vocal fatigue, hoarseness, throat pain or discomfort, weak voice, dryness and lower pitch. Abnormal voice produces adverse effects on teaching performance and communicative ability leading to a lesser quality of teaching and increased absenteeism [1]. In India, a low teacher to student ratio, lack of infrastructure (such as microphones, compact classrooms, good noise-less ventilation systems), teachers’ repeated exposure to upper respiratory tract infections (due to dust, pollution, and tropical weather) and other airborne irritants complicate the problems of teachers in India, along with insufficient formal training on vocal health and hygiene such as voice pro
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