Comparação da ocorrência de sinais e sintomas de alteração vocal e de desconforto no trato vocal em professores de diferentes níveis de ensino

PURPOSE: To analyze and compare the occurrence of signs and symptoms of voice and vocal tract discomfort in teachers from different educational levels. METODO: Participaram da pesquisa 112 docentes, de ambos os generos, de diferentes niveis de ensino, sendo: 38 do Ensino Infantil, 28 do Ensino Fundamental I, 18 do Ensino Fundamental II e 28 do Ensino Medio. Os participantes autoavaliaram suas vozes e responderam um questionario de caracterizacao pessoal e do trabalho, a Lista de Sinais e Sintomas Vocais, a Escala do Desconforto do Trato Vocal (somente frequencia da sensacao). Os dados obtidos foram analisados estatisticamente em funcao dos niveis de ensino utilizando-se o Teste Krukal-Wallis e o Teste Qui-quadrado de Pearson (p<0,05). RESULTS: In high school, the median age and the frequency of male teachers was significantly higher than in other levels of education. There was no difference in the vocal self-assessment, the occurrence of vocal signs and symptoms and frequency of vocal tract discomfort, depending on the level of education of teachers. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that there was no difference in the occurrence of signs and symptoms of voice and vocal tract discomfort in teachers from different educational levels.