Prevalence of Voice Disorders in Indian Female Secondary School Teacher Population-A Cross Sectional Study

Teachers are the backbone of any civilized society as they are the keepers of knowledge, wisdom and values. Lack of infrastructure, manpower and resources makes voice the most important tool for a teacher. Teachers need to speak loudly for long periods often under unfavourable circumstances. Increased vocal effort and incorrect phonation techniques can lead to vocal fold tissue damage and vocal fold pathologies and hence voice problems producing adverse effects on teaching performance. To study the prevalence of voice disorders in Indian female secondary school teacher population. To identify the risk factors for the development of voice disorders. A multicentric, cross-sectional observational study of 200 teachers were conducted in 4 schools over a period of 2 years. Female teachers who gave consent and were willing for follow up were included in the study. Details were collected using a structured questionnaire. Subjective analysis by VHI, perceptual analysis by GRABS score, acoustic analysis and direct visualization using Hopkins 70° rigid laryngoscope were done.The prevalence of voice disorders was 18.5%. Risk factors identified were age group 41-60 years, repeated respiratory allergies, comorbidities, constitutional symptoms, increased number of years of teaching and number of lecture hours per week. VHI, GRABS, Acoustic analysis findings were consistent with Rigid Laryngoscopic finding making them effective tools in the assessment of voice.