Vocal loading profiles of kindergarten and elementary school teachers

Purpose: Although a global picture exists of teachers’ voice demands in general, few studies have compared specific groups of teachers to determine whether some are more at risk than others to develop vocal loading related dysphonia. This study compared vocal loading of kindergarten and elementary school teachers; professional and non-professional vocal load was determined for both groups.
Method: Twelve kindergarten and twenty elementary school female teachers were monitored during one workweek using the Ambulatory Phonation Monitor, Model 3200 (KayPENTAX). Vocal loading parameters analyzed were phonation time, F0, SPL, distance dose and cycle dose. A total of 160 days (≈1513 hours) of collected data were analyzed.
Results and conclusions: All the parameters were higher for kindergarten teachers than for elementary school teachers in both professional and non-professional environments, but the differences were significant only for the cycle dose and the distance dose (p < .05). The higher vocal load measured in kindergarten teachers suggests that they could be more at risk for developing voice disorders than elementary school teachers. Particular attention should be paid to this specific group of teachers working with young children.
Concerning the comparisons between professional and non-professional voice use, significant differences were observed for all parameters (p < .0001), indicating that vocal load was higher in the professional environment for both groups.