Abstract
The objective of the study was to assess voice capabilities and laryngeal abnormalities in female teaching students in order to evaluate risk factors of future occupational voice disorders. One hundred forty-four women (aged 17 to 41 years) were examined using videostroboscopy and voice range profile measurements. Stroboscopically, the subjects were classified into three groups depending on the shape of the glottal closure. Thirty-five phonation-associated alterations and six organic alterations of the vocal folds were found. Subjects with an insufficient glottal closure showed a higher percentage of phonation-associated vocal fold alterations (i.e. vocal nodules) and reached lower maximum sound pressure levels. The results underline the necessity to execute vocal examinations and vocal assessment analyses for candidates of voice intensive professions in order to avoid profession-related dysphonias at a later stage.
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Acknowledgements
The study was financially supported by the Jubilee Fund of the National Bank of Austria (no. 8398) and the Research Fund of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Austria. The authors thank Prof. Dr. M. Kundi for his constructive support regarding the statistical data analysis. We would also like to thank the staff of the Pedagogic Academy Vienna/Strebersdorf for their active support of this study.
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Schneider, B., Bigenzahn, W. Vocal risk factors for occupational voice disorders in female teaching students. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 262, 272–276 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-004-0768-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-004-0768-2