Elsevier

Auris Nasus Larynx

Volume 50, Issue 3, June 2023, Pages 450-457
Auris Nasus Larynx

Vocal fatigue perceived in remote working by teachers of different school grades during COVID-19 pandemic

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anl.2022.08.009Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

Teachers have an increased prevalence of voice disorders. The present study aimed to investigate the impact of remote teaching on perceived voice fatigue among Italian teachers of all grades during the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Method

s The participants were 195 female teachers (Mage=48.77; SDage=9.61) in primary, secondary, and high schools. They completed the Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI) through an online survey. The tool includes 19 items grouped into three dimensions: tiredness of voice and avoidance of voice use (TA); physical discomfort (PD); and improvement of symptoms with rest (IS). The participants reported their perceived voice fatigue during remote teaching. They were also asked to provide data about voice fatigue as perceived in previous classroom teaching. The data were analyzed through two sets of independent one-way ANOVAs, with voice fatigue subscales as criterion variables and school grade as a between-subjects factor.

Results

The teachers involved in the study reported higher voice fatigue scores than vocally healthy adults from the general population. Primary school teachers showed higher voice fatigue during remote teaching than both secondary and high school teachers, specifically for the TA and PD dimensions, whereas no difference emerged for IS. The VFI scores of primary school teachers were similar to those of dysphonic individuals.

Conclusion

The results of the study confirm that primary school teachers are more vulnerable to developing voice disorders and suggest the need for specific vocal health interventions in case of prolonged remote work.

Keywords

Coronavirus
COVID-19
Voice fatigue
Voice disorders
School teachers
Remote teaching
Classroom teaching

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1

These authors contributed equally to this paper

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