Child Voice and Noise: A Pilot Study of Noise in Day Cares and the Effects on 10 Children's Voice Quality According to Perceptual Evaluation

Abstract

SummaryThe purpose of this investigation was to study children's exposure to background noise at the ears during a normal day at the day care center and also to relate this to a perceptual evaluation of voice quality. Ten children, from three day care centers, with no history of hearing and speech problems or frequent infections were selected as subjects. A binaural recording technique was used with two microphones placed on both sides of the subject's head, at equal distance from the mouth. A portable digital audio tape (DAT) recorder (Sony TCD-D 100, Stockholm, Sweden) was attached to the subject's waist. Three recordings were made for each child during the day. Each recording was calibrated and started with three repetitions of three sentences containing only sonorants. The recording technique allowed separate analyses of the background noise level and of the sound pressure level (SPL) of each subjects' own voice. Results showed a mean background noise level for the three day care centers at 82.6 dBA Leq, ranging from 81.5 to 83.6 dBA Leq. Day care center no. 2 had the highest mean value and also the highest value at any separate recording session with a mean background noise level of 85.4 dBA Leq during the noontime recordings. Perceptual evaluation showed that the children attending this day care center also received higher values on the following voice characteristics: hoarseness, breathiness, and hyperfunction. Girls increased their loudness level during the day, whereas for boys no such change could be observed.

Efeito do ruído na voz de educadoras de instituições de educação infantil

“…1,19 Laryngeal assessment was not performed due to the professionals' diffi culty in leaving the classroom. Roughness, breathiness and hyperfunction/strain have been prevalent in other studies, 13,19 but only one 19 found alterations related to phonotrauma by means of laryngeal assessment.…”

“…3,4,9,10,15,16,23,24 Another study has found an association between high noise levels and vocal alteration in teachers of one out of three analyzed schools. 13 The adhesion of all the invited educators shows interest and need of research in the voice area in this professional category. The lack of studies on the theme points to the need of research that aims at environmental characterization and the problems it may cause to professionals and students, and also at evaluating multidisciplinary actions of health promotion in the search of a better quality of life to those who are involved.…”

“…14 A Brazilian study with approximately 2,000 teachers found that half of them had complaints about high or unbearable noise levels at school, inside or outside the classroom and associated with worse voice-related quality of life. 10 A literature review 13 analyzed studies in which the average noise level in educational institutions exceeded 70 dBA, which has also been observed in Brazilian day-care centers. 21 Averages between 70 dBA and 85 dBA have been found in primary school classrooms in which the teachers presented many symptoms that were possibly associated with noise exposure, among them, dysphonia.…”

A Comparison of Recordings of Sentences and Spontaneous Speech: Perceptual and Acoustic Measures in Preschool Children’s Voices

“…18 The children had no history of hearing or speech problems, or frequent ear, nose, and throat infections. No initial survey of voice quality was made.…”

“…In the evaluation protocol, all parameters were represented by a 100-mm visual analog scale (VAS) with ''not at all'' and ''a lot'' at the extremes, except for the parameter pitch, represented by a 200-mm line with ''very high'' and ''very low'' at the extremes. 18 The other parameters were hoarseness, breathiness, roughness, hyperfunction, and an open parameter to offer options for the raters, if necessary. Three repetitions of each set of sentences for each condition, controlled sentences or sentences selected from spontaneous speech were presented to the listener on a computer using Sennheiser PX200 headphones.…”