Occupational Voice Use Research Articles

Changes in Objective Acoustic Measurements and Subjective Voice Complaints in Call Center Customer-Service Advisors During One Working Day

The aim of this study was to investigate how different acoustic parameters, extracted both from speech pressure waveforms and glottal flows, can be used in measuring vocal loading in modern working environments and how these parameters reflect the possible changes in the vocal function during a working day. In addition, correlations between objective acoustic parameters and subjective voice symptoms were addressed. The subjects were 24 female and 8 male customer-service advisors, who mainly use telephone during their working hours. Speech samples were recorded from continuous speech four times during a working day and voice symptom questionnaires were completed simultaneously. Among the various objective parameters, only F0 resulted in a statistically significant increase for both genders. No correlations between the changes in objective and subjective parameters appeared. However, the results encourage researchers within the field of occupational voice use to apply versatile measurement techniques in studying occupational voice loading.

Protocol Challenges for On-the-Job Voice Dosimetry of Teachers in the United States and Finland

The occupational voice use of teachers has been an important research topic over the last 10 years. However, data collection on vocal loading in teachers at and away from the workplace poses significant challenges to the research protocol. The challenges include recruitment of subjects, voice data collection on the job, and subject compliance and retention. The present article offers recommendations for coping with these protocol difficulties. The recommendations are based on the authors' experiences with long-term, on-the-job voice dosimetry of large subject groups of teachers in the United States and Finland.

Benign lesions of the vocal folds: a masquerade

Objective. The aim of this study is to give an analysis of the nature of benign vocal fold lesions with an indication for microlaryngoscopy that are found in a general ENT clinic. Patients and methods. Retrospectively, pre- and peroperative data from 177 successive patients were examined. Results. The male : female distribution was 1 : 3. Preoperatively, bilateral lesions were found in 53%, changing into 82% at peroperative examination. Nodules, polyps, Reinke's oedema and intracordal lesions–such as sulcus vocalis, vergeture and cysts–were the most frequently found lesions. The intracordale lesions were easily missed at preoperative examination. Half of the patients had occupational voice use. Conclusion. In spite of laryngostroboscopy, the vocal fold lesions could not always be diagnosed correctly. It is recommended to perform a diagnostic microlaryngoscopy in cases of unclear dysphonia and to examine both vocal folds peroperatively. It may be advisable to develop a new terminology for vocal fold lesions, based on their functional behaviour. At this, stroboscopy can be completed by videokymography.

Duodeno-jejunal adenocarcinoma and coeliac disease.

<h3>Background</h3> While voice is integral to sports coaching, currently there is a dearth of research considering coaches9 occupational vocal health. <h3>Objective</h3> To investigate football coaches9 occupational voice use and vocal...