Quality of Life, Self-Perceived Dysphonia, and Diagnosed Dysphonia Through Clinical Tests in Teachers

Summary 

Objectives

To examine the impact of voice on the quality of life of teachers and to assess whether the degree of dysphonia and otorhinolaryngologists' (ORL) diagnostics are correlated with the quality of life.

Methods

Eighty-eight female teachers from the municipal schools of Belo Horizonte who were in speech therapy at the Speech Therapy Clinic of the Hospital das Clínicas of Minas Gerais participated in the study. The variables studied were age, ORL diagnosis, perceptual-hearing assessment of voice through GRBAS scale, and vocal activities and participation profile (VAPP) protocol. Statistical analysis was performed through the descriptive analysis of the data and the Spearman coefficient of correlation.

Results

The average age of the participants was 38 years. Vocal deviation: degree 1—56 teachers (63.6%); degree 2—27 teachers (30.6%); and without vocal deviation—five teachers (5.6%). It was found that 57.9% of the teachers presented combined ORL diagnosis. No statistically significant relationship was observed among the ORL diagnosis, the degree of dysphonia, and the parameter values of quality of life assessed by VAPP.

Conclusions

The examined participants of this study presented light degree of vocal deviation and ORL combined diagnosis. According to the figures obtained by VAPP, there was negative impact of voice on the quality of life of female teachers, but these impacts were not correlated with ORL diagnosis and grade of dysphonia.

Key Words: Quality of voice, Quality of life, Teachers