TY - JOUR
T1 - Work-Related Communicative Profile of Voice Teachers
T2 - Effects of Classroom Noise on Voice and Hearing Abilities
AU - Redman, Yvonne
AU - Vercelli, Chiara
AU - Cantor-Cutiva, Lady Catherine
AU - Bottalico, Pasquale
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded by the Strategic Research Initiative Program grant from the College of Fine and Applied Arts at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The authors would like to thank the instructors for their kind cooperation and interest. We are grateful to Lauren Putira, the Department of Speech and Hearing Science and their audiology clinic, which have made this work possible. We thank Arianna Astolfi and Alessio Carullo of Politecnico di Torino for the use of their laboratory's Voice Care. Finally, we thank Dann Mitton, Aaron Johnson, and Ken Bozeman for their valuable input.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The Voice Foundation
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Purpose: Vocal instructors during their normal workday are exposed to high noise levels that can affect their voice and hearing health. The goal of this study was to evaluate the voice and hearing status of voice instructors before and after lessons and relate these evaluations with voice and noise dosimetry taken during lessons. Methods: Eight voice instructors volunteered to participate in the study. The protocol included (1) questionnaires, (2) pre/post assessment of voice quality and hearing status, and (3) voice and noise dosimetry during lessons. Acoustic measurements were taken of the unoccupied classrooms. Results: In six of eight classrooms, the measured noise level was higher than the safety recommendations set by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The background noise level and the reverberation time in the classrooms were in compliance with the national standard recommendations. We did not find a clear pattern comparing pre- and post-measurements of voice quality consistent among genders. In all subjects, the Sound Pressure Levels mean increased, and the standard deviation of fundamental frequency decreased indicating association to vocal fatigue. Previous studies link these changes to increasing vocal fatigue. The audiometric results revealed seven out of eight instructors have sensorineural hearing loss. Conclusions: The interaction of the acoustic space and noise levels can contribute to the development of hearing and voice disorders for voice instructors. If supported by larger sample size, the results of this pilot study could justify the need for a hearing and voice conservation program for music faculty.
AB - Purpose: Vocal instructors during their normal workday are exposed to high noise levels that can affect their voice and hearing health. The goal of this study was to evaluate the voice and hearing status of voice instructors before and after lessons and relate these evaluations with voice and noise dosimetry taken during lessons. Methods: Eight voice instructors volunteered to participate in the study. The protocol included (1) questionnaires, (2) pre/post assessment of voice quality and hearing status, and (3) voice and noise dosimetry during lessons. Acoustic measurements were taken of the unoccupied classrooms. Results: In six of eight classrooms, the measured noise level was higher than the safety recommendations set by National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The background noise level and the reverberation time in the classrooms were in compliance with the national standard recommendations. We did not find a clear pattern comparing pre- and post-measurements of voice quality consistent among genders. In all subjects, the Sound Pressure Levels mean increased, and the standard deviation of fundamental frequency decreased indicating association to vocal fatigue. Previous studies link these changes to increasing vocal fatigue. The audiometric results revealed seven out of eight instructors have sensorineural hearing loss. Conclusions: The interaction of the acoustic space and noise levels can contribute to the development of hearing and voice disorders for voice instructors. If supported by larger sample size, the results of this pilot study could justify the need for a hearing and voice conservation program for music faculty.
KW - Voice instructors—Voice dosimetry—Noise dosimetry—Hearing assessment—Classroom acoustics
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jvoice.2020.05.021
DO - 10.1016/j.jvoice.2020.05.021
M3 - Article
C2 - 32631734
AN - SCOPUS:85087402808
JO - Journal of Voice
JF - Journal of Voice
SN - 0892-1997
ER -