Comparison of vocal fatigue and vocal tract discomfort between teachers of normal pupils and teachers of mentally disabled pupils.

PURPOSE: This study aims to study the comparison of vocal fatigue and vocal tract discomfort between teachers of normal pupils and teachers of mentally disabled pupils. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study METHODS: Participants were 179 teachers (50 male, 129 female) and 30 non-teachers (14 male, 16 female) who participated in the current study. The teachers work in elementary schools. Furthermore, 87 of the teachers work for mentally disabled pupils at special elementary schools. Non-teachers were Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences employees who consider as the control group. They completed the Persian VFI and VTDp questionnaires three times, at the beginning, middle, and end of their office hours for 1 workday. RESULTS: The current study's findings indicate that the Persian VFI and VTD scores of non-teachers were significantly lower than teachers' scores. Furthermore, teachers of mentally disabled pupils demonstrated higher values from teachers of normal pupils based on the Persian VFI and VTDp scores CONCLUSION: The study results showed that teachers experienced more vocal fatigue and vocal tract discomfort than non-teachers. Furthermore, teachers of mentally disabled pupils indicated more vocal fatigue, the larynx's physical discomfort, and vocal tract discomfort, but this difference was practically small.

Psychometric Characteristics of Different Versions of Vocal Tract Discomfort (VTD) Scale: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: This review compare different Vocal Tract Discomfort (VTD) versions. This comparison is based on their validity and reliability parameters in the translation and adaptation process. We aimed to prepare numerical evidence to prove the validity of this easy screening tool. VTD is able to perform an accurate diagnosis of voice discomforts, particularly in primary stages. METHODS: Articles were selected from databases including Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct and Scopus. Our relevant papers were gathered by searching the phrase: VTD in titles, abstracts, and keys. Studies not followed an adaptive procedure were excluded. Based on the selection criteria, out of 23 collected articles, eight were studied in this review. RESULTS: Standard psychometric protocol steps were followed in all selected articles and simultaneously high reliability and validity were reported in their translation procedure. Such analogous results may confirm the efficacy of this research tool. CONCLUSION: This review affirms VTD, perceptual patient-based scale, as a valuable evaluation tool to investigate the occurrence of voice disorders. Based on its structure and performance, VTD can work as a quick and precise source for predicting vocal discomforts. Moreover, this capability can help professional therapists to plan more efficient treatment procedures. The other important advantage of VTD is its diagnostic and prognostic capacity to inform patients about their current and future conditions so that they would be motivated to follow treatment procedures more consistently.