Quick Links
Customer Centres
The prevalence, nature and risks of voice problems in teachers
RS2000/01-001
Final Report Date: March 2003
| Principal Investigator: | Linda Rammage, University of British Columbia |
| Co-investigators: | Charlie Naylor and Lynne Sinclair, British Columbia Teachers' Federation |
For more information about this study please contact Dr. Linda Rammage.
Issue
Recently, researchers and clinicians have become aware of increasing numbers of teachers seeking treatment in voice clinics. Potential risk factors include heavy vocal demand, poor acoustic conditions for speech, high exposure to viruses, inadequate vocal training and increasing classroom sizes.
Key findings
- The Teachers' Voice Use Inventory (questionnaire) has been completed, and validity and test-retest reliability have been confirmed.
- This instrument is now ready for administration to a sample of representative teachers in B.C.
Objectives
To develop and test a comprehensive questionnaire that can be used to
determine the prevalence, nature and risk factors for occupational voice
problems among public school teachers in B.C.
Method
A questionnaire was developed to examine a comprehensive battery of factors that might indicate high risk for voice problems among public school teachers.
Potential risk factors included issues related to gender, age, health, length of time in teaching career, teaching schedule and duration, extra-curricular voice use, personality-stress, noise and other acoustic factors, age of students, and courses taught.
Pilot testing was undertaken to determine validity and test-retest reliability measures.
Results
Validity of the measurement tool was ensured by including validated standardized tests for voice handicap (Voice-Related Quality of Life Index) and personality-psychological coping style (Neo-5). Content validity for other items was verified by pilot testing. Reliability criteria were met for each item in the voice use inventory following repeated pilot testing and revision of items that did not meet criteria.
Conclusions
The questionnaire is a valid, reliable tool that can be used in future
research to help determine the prevalence, nature and risks of voice problems
in public school teachers.
Future directions
The questionnaire can be used to learn more about voice disorders amongst teachers, which in turn would inform research to develop effective preventive measures and programs.