An interdisciplinary approach to teachers' voice disorders and psychosocial working conditions.
OBJECTIVE
The goals of this epidemiological paper are focused on studying teachers' vocal complaints, their voice pattern, and the impact of voice disorders on psychosocial working conditions.


METHODS
A representative stratified random sample of 282 teachers from kindergartens and elementary schools was studied. Two types of self-report questionnaires were applied: an inquiry about teachers' occupational voice profile, and the adapted Spanish version of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (ISTAS-21). Pearson's chi(2) test was performed to search for statistical associations.


RESULTS
62.7% of subjects were experiencing occupational voice disorders; these teachers showed significantly worse psychosocial conditions than their healthy voice colleagues.


CONCLUSIONS
Occupational voice disorders affect more than 60% of teachers and have an impact on their psychosocial working conditions. Interdisciplinary work is essential to shed light on these multifactor mechanisms and effects.
de Alvear
Rosa M Bermúdez
RM
Radiology and Physical Medicine, Ophthalmology and Otorhinolaryngology Department, Medical Faculty, Málaga, Spain. bermudez @ uma.es
Martínez-Arquero
Ginés
G
Barón
F Javier
FJ
Hernández-Mendo
Antonio
A
D000328:Adult; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*