Summary
Occupational voice users are at a higher risk for developing voice disorders due to
their vocal demands, such as prolonged periods of work-related voice use and nonideal
environmental factors, such as speaking above background noise. The current study
focused on the effects of background noise and hearing protection on acoustic-perceptual
correlates of voice among steam train engineers. Fourteen participants phonated vowel
/a/, read a phrase, and described a map under different noise and hearing protection
conditions. Relative sound pressure level, relative fundamental frequency, and perceived
vocal effort and disturbance decreased in the presence of hearing protection for all
noise conditions. In contrast, these acoustic measures increased in the absence of
hearing protection supporting Lombard effect. Overall, results of the current study
provide insight into possible risks to vocal health in workers exposed to high levels
of background noise and use hearing protection.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 23, 2021
Accepted:
January 7,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
