Self-evaluations of voice, working conditions, and results of phoniatric examination were studied in 78 female primary school teachers. Most teachers evaluated their vocal capabilities as 'normal'; nevertheless 1/3 reported two or more weekly symptoms. Unsatisfactory air quality, background noise, and stressful working conditions were seen as the most harmful environmental factors. A total of 14% of the subjects had organic laryngeal changes, 37% had mild changes, and 49% were found to be healthy. These findings did not correlate with self-evaluation of voice, vocal symptoms, or voice-related quality of life. Teaching experience or teaching hours per week did not correlate with laryngeal findings or symptoms. The results illustrate the complex nature of voice assessment and the need of assessment tools specially suited for functionally healthy voice professionals.

No abstract

Background: The Acoustic Voice Quality Index (AVQI) is a multiparametric tool for objectively measuring the general acoustic characteristics of voice. The AVQI uses both sustained vowel and continuous speech in its analysis, and therefore, validation is required for different languages. In the present study, validation was performed in the Finnish-speaking population. Methods: The study included 200 native Finnishspeaking participants of whom 115 were voice patients attending a phoniatric clinic, and the remaining 85 subjects participated in the study as healthy controls. Voice samples were recorded, and the auditory evaluation was performed by five speech therapists. An ordinal four point interval scale was used to evaluate the degree of voice abnormality (Grade, G). Several statistical analyses were performed to test the validity and the diagnostic accuracy of the AVQI in the Finnish-speaking population. Results: The inter-rater reliability of four of the five raters was high enough to allow the use of Gmean in the validation. There was a statistically significant correlation between the AVQI scores and the evaluation of overall perceptual voice quality (r=0.74). Conclusions: The results confirmed the good discriminatory power of the AVQI in differentiating between normal and abnormal voice qualities. The AVQI 02.02 threshold value for dysphonia was 2.87 in the Finnish-speaking population.

No abstract

‘Voice massage’ (VM) treatment includes manipulation of muscles related to speech production and voice and breathing exercises. This study investigated the effects of VM in 10 healthy subjects (5 females, 5 males). They recorded repetitions of the word ‘paappa’ at normal loudness and as softly as possible and read a text sample before and after 1-hour (1) VM treatment, (2) fast walking, (3) sitting in a library and (4) lying on a bed. Subglottic pressure was estimated from oral pressure during [p]. Transglottal flow and glottal resistance were measured. Voice production was studied with electroglottography. Fundamental frequency, sound pressure level (SPL) and alpha ratio [(SPL of the range 1–5 kHz) – (SPL of the range 50 Hz–1 kHz)] were calculated from text samples, which were also evaluated by 7 voice experts. A questionnaire was used to record subjects’ sensations. Changes after lying and sitting suggest lowered effort in phonatory muscles, while after fast walking effort seemed to increase. After VM no significant changes were observed in voice parameters or perceptual quality, but ease of phonation and reduced tension in the neck, shoulders and back were reported. The effects of VM may be partly psychological, partly related to a search of phonatory balance.