A comparison of the prevalence of vocal symptoms among teacher students and other university students

Studies focusing on different groups of students show that the prevalence of vocal symptoms and voice disorder vary depending on the study populations. A previous study of vocal symptoms and voice disorders among teacher students has shown that 20% of the students studying to become teachers in comprehensive schools and upper secondary schools reported frequently occurring vocal symptoms, ie, two symptoms or more occurring weekly or more often during the past year, and that most of these students had an organic voice disorder. This raised the question of whether other university students would also report similar, frequently occurring vocal symptoms. A questionnaire was distributed to 220 students of several faculties at the University of Turku, Finland. The results were compared with the results of a study of vocal symptoms reported by 175 students studying to become teachers. This comparison showed that students in general reported frequently occurring vocal symptoms, whereas the students studying to become teachers reported a greater number of frequently occurring symptoms than did other students at the university.