A Vocal Hygiene Program for Mitigating the Effects of Occupational Vocal Demand in Primary School Teachers.

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Bibliographic Details
Title:	A Vocal Hygiene Program for Mitigating the Effects of Occupational Vocal Demand in Primary School Teachers.
Authors:	Kelly Jie Ying Lin¹, Chan, Roger W.^2,3 rogerwchan@126.com, Chia-Hsin Wu⁴, Sally Chien Hsin Liu⁵
Source:	Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research. May2023, Vol. 66, p1525-1540. 16p.
Subject Terms:	*Psychology of teachers, Lifestyles, Evaluation of human services programs, Analysis of variance, Human voice, Vocal cords, Hygiene, Descriptive statistics, Scale analysis (Psychology), Analysis of covariance, Questionnaires, Data analysis software
Abstract:	Purpose: Teachers are occupational voice users with significant vocal demand. This study examined if a vocal hygiene program could mitigate the effects of occupational vocal demand in primary school teachers across 1 month. Method: Sixty female teachers participated, with 30 in an experimental group receiving vocal hygiene education plus daily home practice for 1 month and 30 in a control group with no intervention. Their vocal changes across the month were quantified with (a) acoustic measures on fundamental frequency (fo), vocal intensity, jitter and shimmer, harmonics-to-noise ratio, and smoothed cepstral peak prominence and (b) Voice Handicap Index (VHI-10) and Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI) scores. Results: Analysis of covariance showed significantly larger changes (significant decreases) in conversational fo and in jitter for the experimental group relative to the control group. Post hoc pairwise comparisons following repeatedmeasures analysis of variance showed significant decreases in conversational fo and in jitter across the month for the experimental group. No significant differences in VHI-10 and VFI scores were found between the groups. Conclusions: Vocal demand–related changes in acoustic measures could be partially mitigated with the vocal hygiene program. Future studies with a more refined intervention program and more long-term follow-up are recommended to better understand the long-term benefits of vocal hygiene programs on primary school teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database:	Education Research Complete

Description
Abstract:	Purpose: Teachers are occupational voice users with significant vocal demand. This study examined if a vocal hygiene program could mitigate the effects of occupational vocal demand in primary school teachers across 1 month. Method: Sixty female teachers participated, with 30 in an experimental group receiving vocal hygiene education plus daily home practice for 1 month and 30 in a control group with no intervention. Their vocal changes across the month were quantified with (a) acoustic measures on fundamental frequency (fo), vocal intensity, jitter and shimmer, harmonics-to-noise ratio, and smoothed cepstral peak prominence and (b) Voice Handicap Index (VHI-10) and Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI) scores. Results: Analysis of covariance showed significantly larger changes (significant decreases) in conversational fo and in jitter for the experimental group relative to the control group. Post hoc pairwise comparisons following repeatedmeasures analysis of variance showed significant decreases in conversational fo and in jitter across the month for the experimental group. No significant differences in VHI-10 and VFI scores were found between the groups. Conclusions: Vocal demand–related changes in acoustic measures could be partially mitigated with the vocal hygiene program. Future studies with a more refined intervention program and more long-term follow-up are recommended to better understand the long-term benefits of vocal hygiene programs on primary school teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:	10924388
DOI:	10.1044/2023_JSLHR-22-00490