Abstract

ESCALONA, Evelin. Symptoms of voice disorders and prevalence of working conditions among primary school teachers: Aragua - Venezuela. Salud de los Trabajadores [online]. 2006, vol.14, n.2, pp.31-54. ISSN 1315-0138.

The objective of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship between self-reported voice disorders among primary schoolteachers and workplace risk factors (environmental and organiza-tional) in schools. Methods: A random sample of 438 teachers was obtained, which assured a 95% level of confidence. An occupational history was obtained from study subjects. Results: 438 teachers (43 male and 395 female) participated. Length of employment was 14.7 ± 8.27 years, and the average number of students per teacher was 14.7 ± 8,27. Average daily duration of speaking time was 3.74 ± 2.89 hours. The prevalence of dysphonia was 90.4%. In order of importance, symptoms were dryness, throat clearing, itching of the throat, odinophagia, tension of the neck, hoarseness at the end of the day, vocal fatigue, "crick in the throat", difficulty speaking, and sensation of lack of air. The average frequency of symptoms per participant was 5.47 ± 3.4. Women were more affected and had greater voice overload. Eighty-eight percent of schoolteachers had not received any training in proper voice use. Adverse environmental conditions included exposure to chalk dust, noise, poor acoustics, dust in the recess yard and smoke. Logistic regression analysis revealed an association between dysphonia and smoke, duration Voice disorders are a common problem among school-teachers, and work conditions are negatively impacting these workers. It is necessary to implement short-term control measures.

Keywords : work conditions; teachers; dysphonia symptoms; generate.