Voice Disorder and Burnout Syndrome in Teachers

Summary Objective The objective of this study was to assess the association between burnout syndrome and the likely presence of voice disorders among teachers from a public elementary school in the country town of Sergipe. Methods This is a cross-sectional study in which 208 teachers completed the following questionnaires: the Condition of Vocal Production-Teacher (CPV-P), the Screening Index for Voice Disorder (SIVD), and the Burnout Syndrome Evaluation Questionnaire (CESQT). Results Of the 208 teachers, 76.9% were women, 77.9% came from rural areas, and 64.4% were likely to have a voice disorder. Teachers with a career length of over 15 years were almost twice as likely to have a voice disorder. Of the symptoms listed in the SIVD, the following were most prevalent: dry throat (88.1%), hoarseness (84.4%), and fatigue when speaking (82.1%). Among the burnout subscales, psychic exhaustion was the most common (30.3%). Analyses revealed that probable voice disorder was associated with psychic exhaustion with an odds ratio of 1.78 ( P  0.001, χ 2  = 84.1%) . Teachers with positive scores on two to four burnout subscales had an odds ratio of 4.01 ( P  = 0.013, χ 2  = 86.2%) for a probable voice disorder compared with those with positive scores on zero to one subscale. Conclusions The present results confirmed that burnout syndrome was associated with the presence of a probable voice disorder.