Prevalence of voice disorders among teaching personnel in la rioja, spain

Abstract Objectives: A study is made of the prevalence of voice disorders among teaching personnel of la Rioja (Spain), with an evaluation of the associated risk factors Methods: Based on a population of 3428 teachers, aprevalence study was made of 997 teachers over a 3-year period. The study comprised a standardized questionnaire (personal and professional data, antecedents, speech habits and symptoms, full ENT exploration, functional voice exploration, laryngo-estroboscopic study and digital analysis of the voice). Results: A total of 50.5% (488/964) of the randomly selected teachers participated in the study. The prevalence of vocal pathology was 57.6%, with the following distribution: Benign vocal fold lesions (nodules[13.7%], smoking laryngitis [3,9%], chronic laryngitis [2,9%], polyps [2%], reflux laryngitis [1,4%], telengiectasic vessels [1,4%], Reinke′s edema [1.2%], vocal fold scarring [0.6%], cysts [0,4%] and sulcus vocalis [0.4%], functional disorders vocal over exertion [18,2%], hyperfunctional disphonia [7,6%], diphonia plica ventricularis [2,9%], hipofunctional disphonia[0,4%]), hyperkeratosis 0,2%; and vocal fold paralysis 0,2%. There were more women than men among the teaching population in la Rioja (59% versus 41%). Conclusion: Voice disorders among teaching personnel are related to situations requiring more intense speech effort, with a greater frequency among women than men.