Voice disturbance in an Italian teachers population

Using of voice is an important aspect of teacher work. Numerous studies demostrate an increase of fonatory disorders in these workers. We tested a population of Italian teachers of secondary school by Voice handicap index questionnaire (VHI) and by Work ability index questionnaire (WAI). Tested teachers are 126 (86 male and 40 female), with a mean age of 55 ± 7,9 years and an occupational history of 26 ± 10,3 years. The 2% of tested teachers presents an overhall negative VHI score. WAI and VHI are inversely proportional. Looking at the single scales of VHI we can observe that 22,1% of teachers have a sligt alteration in functional scale and 8,2% have moderate alteration in same scale. Slight alteration in functional scale are more common in female teachers (25,9% vs 19,5%), while moderate alteration are more common in male (9,8% vs 5,9%). The percentage of teachers with alteration in VHI increase with Body Mass Index (BMI) raising: for slight alterations 20,1% in normoweight workers vs 40% of obese, and for moderate alterations respectively 4% vs 20%. This study confirms the presence of vocal disturbance in teachers. The relation between BMI and voice troubles confirms the importance of health promotion campaign at workplace.