Changes in Teachers’ Voice Quality during a Working Day with and without Electric Sound Amplification

Jónsdottir, Valdis; Laukkanen, Anne-Maria; Siikki, Ilona

doi:10.1159/000072157

Cited by 41 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…With regard to the point of view of the children, most of the teachers in the study reported that children became immediately used to the novelty, and they also benefitted from listening. Also this aspect is in agreement with some previous reports indicating that poor voice quality in teachers reduces the intelligibility of speech [14,15,24,25], while amplification both reduces the need for repetition and permits better concentration [15].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…In the first years of this decade, a few studies demonstrated that portable systems permit up to 6.0 dB SPL reduction of the voice intensity during a simulated classroom lecture [12][13][14]. Furthermore, among a group of 33 teachers, 97% reported easier voice production and 82% found improved vocal endurance [15]. More recently, the vocal portable dosimeters (KayPENTAX Ambulatory Phonation Monitor) permit a more reliable monitoring of vocal dose in an occupational setting.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Voice amplification for primary school teachers with voice disorders: A randomized clinical trial

Bovo¹,

Trevisi²,

Emanuelli³

2013

International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health

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Objectives: Several studies have demonstrated a high prevalence of voice disorders in teachers, together with the personal, professional and economical consequences of the problem. Good primary prevention should be based on 3 aspects: 1) amelioration of classroom acoustics, 2) voice care programs for future professional voice users, including teachers and 3) classroom or portable amplification systems. The aim of the study was to assess the benefit obtained from the use of portable amplification systems by female primary school teachers in their occupational setting. Materials and Methods: Forty female primary school teachers attended a course about professional voice care, which comprised two theoretical lectures, each 60 min long. Thereafter, they were randomized into 2 groups: the teachers of the first group were asked to use a portable vocal amplifier for 3 months, till the end of school-year. The other 20 teachers were part of the control group, matched for age and years of employment. All subjects had a grade 1 of dysphonia with no significant organic lesion of the vocal folds. Results: Most teachers of the experimental group used the amplifier consistently for the whole duration of the experiment and found it very useful in reducing the symptoms of vocal fatigue. In fact, after 3 months, Voice Handicap Index (VHI) scores in "course + amplifier" group demonstrated a significant amelioration (p = 0.003). The perceptual grade of dysphonia also improved significantly (p = 0.0005). The same parameters changed favourably also in the "course only" group, but the results were not statistically significant (p = 0.4 for VHI and p = 0.03 for perceptual grade). Conclusions: In teachers, and particularly in those with a constitutional weak voice and/or those who are prone to vocal fold pathology, vocal amplifiers may be an effective and low-cost intervention to decrease potentially damaging vocal loads and may represent a necessary form of prevention.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Voice amplification for primary school teachers with voice disorders: A randomized clinical trial

Bovo¹,

Trevisi²,

Emanuelli³

2013

International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Irregularity seems to be a sensitive indicator of voice quality [21]. This result are similar to the results of the study of Jónsdottir [24] who reported better voice quality in teachers with vocal loading when using electric sound amplification.…”

Section: Kob Et Al: Influence Of Room Acoustics On the Teacher's supporting

confidence: 87%

“…Some studies found a lowered SPL in teachers with less vocal loading (e.g. [22,24]), but these studies investigated the influence of sound amplification during a longer teaching period.…”

Section: Kob Et Al: Influence Of Room Acoustics On the Teacher's mentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental investigations of the influence of room acoustics on the teacher's voice

Kob

Behler

Kamprolf

et al. 2008

Acoust. Sci. & Tech.

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Teachers belong to the group of professional voice users who often suffer from voice disorders. A reduction of the voice capacity can impede or stop the exertion of their profession. One reason for a significantly increased prevalence of voice problems can be poor room acoustical conditions in the class rooms. About the half of the teachers of a secondary modern school in Aachen were investigated with respect to their voice status by using phoniatric, logopedic and objective voice analysis methods. The prevalence of voice problems in this group was found to exceed previous studies where subjective voice quality was rated. Four rather reverberant and loud class rooms in that school were analysed using measurements of the reverberation time, T 30 , and the speech transmission index, STI. In a further part of this joint project the change of voice quality during the teachers' working day was analysed. Two of the four rooms were acoustically optimised. Members of two groups of teachers with and without voice problems were recorded before and after teaching in either one of the acoustically poor rooms or one of the newly renovated rooms. The results indicate statistically significant differences between the groups of subjects with respect to one or more voice parameters. Healthy subjects are less affected by unfavourable room acoustical conditions than subjects with voice problems.

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“…Within the several possibilities of spectrographic analysis, the Long-term average spectrum (LTAS) offers the possibility of quantifying the quality of a voice, pointing the differences between gender, age, professional voices -talked and sang -and dysphonic voices (Leino, 1993;Mendoza et al, 1996;Navarro, 2000;Barrichelo et al, 2001;Hartl et al, 2001;Linville & Rens, 2001;Bele, 2002;Camargo, 2002;Sjölander, 2003;Jónsdottir et al, 2003;Hartl at al., 2003;Laukkanen et al, 2004;Camargo et al, 2004;Pinczower & Oates, 2005;Soyama et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

O espectro médio de longo termo na pesquisa e na clínica fonoaudiológica

Master¹,

Biase

Pedrosa³

et al. 2006

Pró-Fono R. Atual. Cient.

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TEMA: uma das maiores dificuldades que encontramos ao avaliar uma voz é julgar a sua qualidade por meio da análise perceptivo-auditiva que - ainda que soberana - envolve desde aspectos sócio-econômicos e culturais até preferências individuais. Muitos são os adjetivos usados nesta avaliação e os métodos empregados, pela subjetividade envolvida neste processo, acabam gerando discordâncias entre os ouvintes e dificuldades de assumir um consenso em torno do uso desta ou daquela terminologia. Neste contexto, o laboratório de voz e, mais especificamente, a análise acústica computadorizada, trouxe a possibilidade de orientar e complementar a conduta fonoaudiológica. Entre as várias possibilidades de análise espectrográfica, o espectro médio de longo termo (Long-Term Average Spectrum - LTAS) oferece a possibilidade de "quantificar" a qualidade de uma voz, marcando as diferenças entre gênero, idade, vozes profissionais - falada e cantada - e vozes disfônicas. O LTAS vem sendo muito utilizado em pesquisas na área de voz pois, ao evidenciar a contribuição da fonte glótica e da ressonância para a sua qualidade, fornece subsídios objetivos para a avaliação deste parâmetro que depende basicamente da nossa percepção auditiva. OBJETIVO: trazer o conhecimento sobre a aplicação do LTAS na pesquisa e na clínica fonoaudiológica, descrevendo tanto os aspectos técnicos necessários à sua execução e à interpretação dos seus resultados, bem como as limitações no seu uso. CONCLUSÃO: a área de voz tem se desenvolvido muito nestas duas últimas décadas graças ao advento do laboratório de voz e fala. Assim sendo, conhecer a aplicabilidade de mais uma ferramenta de análise, o LTAS, considerando ainda a demanda existente de estudos nesta área, certamente vai contribuir para a criação de novas linhas de pesquisa tanto em voz profissional quanto na reeducação de alterações vocais.

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Changes in Teachers’ Voice Quality during a Working Day with and without Electric Sound Amplification

Cited by 41 publications

References 26 publications

Voice amplification for primary school teachers with voice disorders: A randomized clinical trial

Voice amplification for primary school teachers with voice disorders: A randomized clinical trial

Experimental investigations of the influence of room acoustics on the teacher's voice

O espectro médio de longo termo na pesquisa e na clínica fonoaudiológica

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