Vocal acoustic and auditory-perceptual measures, vocal complaints and professional characteristics of teachers from the city of Santa Maria (Rio Grande do Sul), Brazil

Abstract

Purpose Describe and correlate acoustic and auditory-perceptual vocal measures, vocal complaints and professional characteristics of a group of teachers. Methods Ninety-nine female primary school teachers, aged 20 to 66 years, underwent auditory-perceptual (CAPE-V) and acoustic (Multi-Dimensional Voice Program Advanced) vocal assessments, and answered a questionnaire with questions about personal identification, overall health, occupational activities and vocal complaints. The ANOVA and Pearson’s correlation statistical tests have been applied. Results The teachers worked 6.98 hours a day, on average, and had been working as teachers for 12.91 years, approximately. Most of them reported vocal complaints and were employed in private schools. Auditory perceptual parameters were normal. All measures of jitter, shimmer, voiceless or unvoiced and subharmonic segments were above the normal range, as well as the standard deviation for fundamental frequency and soft phonation index. Perturbation frequency and age, roughness, breathiness and overall degree of voice were positively correlated with age and length of professional practice. There was also a negative correlation between amplitude perturbation and daily use of voice. Conclusion The teachers’ voices were considered as normal by the auditory-perceptual assessment, but noise and instability were detected in the acoustic analysis; there were, particularly, vocal complaints, and alteration of vocal acoustic and auditory-perceptual measures with increasing age and length of professional practice.