title: Emirati Teachers' Perceptions of Voice Handicap.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study was to explore Emirati teachers' perceptions of voice handicap and to analyze their acoustic characteristics to determine whether acoustic measures of teachers' voice would verify their perceptions of voice handicap.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-six Emirati school teachers (33 men and 33 women), with different years of teaching experience and age, and 100 control participants (50 men and 50 women) underwent vocal assessment that included the Voice Handicap Index (VHI-Arab) and acoustic measures (F0, jitter%, shimmer%, signal to noise ratio [SNR]).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant differences between the teachers' group scores and the control group scores on the following subscales of VHI-Arab: physical (P = 0.006), emotional (P = 0.004), and total score of the test (P = 0.002). No significant differences were found among teachers in the three VHI subscales, and the total score regarding gender (functional P = 0.307; physical P = 0.341; emotional P = 0.126; and total P = 0.184), age (functional P = 0.972; physical P = 0.525; emotional P = 0.772; and total P = 0.848), and years of teaching experience (functional P = 0.319; physical P = 0.619; emotional P = 0.926; and total P = 0.638). The significant differences between the teacher's group and the control group in three acoustic measures: F0 (P = 0.000), shimmer% (P = 0.000), and SNR (P = 0.000) were further investigated. Significant differences were found among female and male teachers in F0 (P = 0.00) and SNR (P = 0.007). As for teachers' age, significant differences were found in SNR (P = 0.028). Teachers' years of experience did not show significant differences in any of the acoustic measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Teachers have a higher perception of voice handicap. However, they were able to produce better voice quality than control participants were, as expressed in better SNRs. This might have been caused either by manipulation of vocal properties or abusive overloading the vocal system to produce a procedurally acceptable voice quality.
authors.affiliation: Special Education Department, College of Education, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates University.
authors.forename: Yaser S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Natour
authors.affiliation: Special Education Department, College of Education, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates University.
authors.forename: Abdealaziz M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sartawi
authors.affiliation: Special Education Department, College of Education, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates University.
authors.forename: Ousha
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Al Muhairy
authors.affiliation: Special Education Department, College of Education, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates University.
authors.forename: Effie
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Efthymiou
authors.affiliation: Department of Audiology and Speech-Pathology, College of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, Al-Ahliyya Amman University, Amman, Jordan. Electronic address: basem.marie@fulbrightmail.org.
authors.forename: Basem S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Marie
mesh_terms: D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D016272:Occupational Health; D010465:Perception; D000070777:School Teachers / Q000523:psychology*; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013068:Speech Production Measurement; D014479:United Arab Emirates; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Acoustic measurements; VHI; Voice