Ambulatory Phonation Monitoring in a Sample of 92 Call Center Operators

Speech and Language Pathologists’ Voice Use in Working Environments: A Field Study Using Ambulatory Phonation Monitoring

“…In particular, Buckley et al [3] reported a percentage of phonation time during a single training session of 19.25% in a group of Australian football coaches. Cantarella et al [8] reported a percentage of phonation time during work of 14.74% in a group of 92 Italian call centre operators. Also Mesallam [16] reported a percentage of phonation time during a whole working day of 21% in a group of 13 SLPs.…”

“…Total distance dose (in m): is the estimated distance travelled by the vocal folds during their vibratory cycle [8], and it depends on phonation time, F 0 and amplitude.…”

“…This finding is probably related to a tendency to expose their voices to more risk factors [5], such as long durations of voice use, loud talking, yelling over distances, suboptimal room acoustics, background noise, vocal tract irritants, stress and workload demands [3, 6, 7]. In particular, sustained vocal effort, accompanied by prolonged vocal loading, seems to play a pivotal role in increasing the risk of VPs in PVUs [8-11]. …”

“…In order to provide an objective measurement of voice production during a prolonged period, the ambulatory phonation monitoring (APM, model 3200 by KayPENTAX; Lincoln Park, NJ, USA) equipment has been developed [12, 13]. The APM can measure phonation time, average and mode fundamental frequency (F 0 ) and mean amplitude of voice production while individuals perform natural daily activities [8]. It uses portable vocal dosimetry composed of an accelerometer placed along the anterior neck, above the sternal notch, which measures the vibrations from the vocal folds through the tissues of the neck and converts them into sound pressure levels (SPL, in dB) of speech.…”

“…Cantarella et al [8] studied the phonation time and intensity in a group of call centre operators in order to define the main risk factors for voice disorders in this category and to assess whether the vocal dose had an impact on the subjects’ quality of life. Franca and Wagner [5] analysed the effect of cumulative vocal demands on the voices of music students majoring in voice.…”