Resumo

CANTOR CUTIVA, Lady Catherine  e  MUNOZ, Alba Idaly. Acoustic conditions and vocal health among faculty at a Bogotá public university. Salud de los Trabajadores [online]. 2009, vol.17, n.2, pp.97-105. ISSN 1315-0138.

Academic faculty are exposed to different work conditions that may affect their health, wellbeing, and quality of life. Among these are dysphonia and other speech-related health effects. Aim: to describe classroom acoustic conditions and the vocal health at a public university in Bogotá, Colombia. Methods: a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among 38 professors working in 25 different classrooms at three colleges in the university. Professors were randomly selected to maintain a 2:1 professor:classroom ratio. The protocol was reviewed and approved by the institutional ethics committee. Results: 39.5% of participants reported vocal problems, according to the GRIBAS scale. At College 1, 63.63% of classrooms exhibited poor acoustic conditions, according to the Total Acoustic Index; the corresponding percentages for Faculties 2 and 3 were 40% and 33.3%, respectively. Conclusions: This study suggests vocal health problems are prevalent among university faculty, as are poor acoustic conditions in classrooms. More detailed research in this area is needed.

Palavras-chave : Acoustics; Faculty; Dysphonia; Working Conditions.