Correlation of voice problems & emotional status in teachers

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between voice problems and emotional status in teachers. One-hundred-and-twenty questionnaires were sent out to teachers in two secondary schools and one primary school Forty-three of them were returned with completed data. The questionnaires inquired about the respondents' current and previous voice problems as well as their emotional status. The items for the Emotional Status section were adapted from the signs and symptoms of stress identified by Fineman (1985), Maslach Burnout Inventory (Chan & Hui, 1995) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Welsh & Dahlstrom, 1956). A high prevalence of voice problem in teachers was revealed in this study (48.8%). The result of the correlation tests showed low but significant correlation between the voice impairment and the emotional status (anxiety: i=0.27, p< 0.05; stress: r=0.3, p< 0.05; emotional exhaustion: r=0.35? p= 0.01). The result also showed that an individual with high emotional disruption score does not necessarily have high voice impaired severity.