PURPOSE: to evaluate the effect of emotional risk factors on the voice of teachers with and without vocal complaints. METHOD: the sample comprised 44 teachers. We used a form for collecting personal and professional data, three questionnaires concerning vocal aspects, and two questionnaires for data related to emotion. Further, we recorded voices for auditory-perceptual analysis. The teachers were divided based on the number of symptoms reported: 22 volunteers in a group of Teachers Without Complaints (TWOC) and 22 in a group of Teachers With Complaints (TWC). The latter group included individuals reporting more than three vocal symptoms. RESULTS: the average number of symptoms described in the Voice Signs and Symptoms Questionnaire was 5.7 (±2.8) and 0.8 (±0.9) for the PCQ and PSQ groups, respectively. The PSQ reported better vocal self-assessment (p = 0.01) and the PCQ reported greater vocal impairment (p = 0.001). The PSQ group obtained the highest scores in the Physical Voice-related Quality of Life (P-VQL) (p = 0.0007) and Total VQL (p = 0.0006). The PCQ had higher values in the Total Voice Handicap Index (VHI) (p = 0.0003) and Organic VHI (p = 0.0006), and greater emotional impairment in the Self-Report Questionnaire [5.7 (±3.9)] and Trait-State Anxiety Inventory [42.5 (±12.7)]. Auditory-perceptual analysis showed that the PCQ had moderate vocal deviation with vocal roughness, breathiness, and tension, while the PSQ group showed slight deviation in all parameters. CONCLUSION: teachers with vocal complaints are exposed to more risk factors, and report more symptoms and vocal and emotional impairments.
Faculty; Voice; Anxiety; Emotions; Communication; Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences
