Effects of Occupation-Specific Vocal Stress on the Mental Health of Day Care Teachers.
Sabine Darius, Susanne Voigt-Zimmermann, Irina Böckelmann
PMID 36948157WHAT IT FOUND
Day care teachers who felt speaking was exhausting, had headaches or neck pain, or were exhausted after work reported greater mental health impairment and burnout risk.
Speaking louder alone was not linked to mental health or burnout.
Key findings
01Teachers who reported headaches or neck pain, or exhaustion after work, had significant correlations with greater mental health impairment and burnout risk.
02Speaking louder to drown out noise was not significantly related to mental health or burnout risk.
0366.8% of teachers reported headaches or neck pain, and 57.1% reported being exhausted and burnt out after work.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was a questionnaire survey, so it can show associations but cannot show that vocal strain caused mental health problems. Only female educators were analysed; 8 male educators, 2 interns, 4 educators with less than a year in the profession, and 8 educators with incomplete questionnaires were excluded. Mental health, burnout, voice strain, and strain factors were self-reported. Noise measurements were taken only in group rooms where the corresponding educator participated, and the paper does not report how many rooms were measured. The sample came from day care centres in and around Magdeburg, Germany, and was mostly large facilities, so results may not apply to smaller settings or other countries. The paper did not test voice training, ergonomic changes, or other treatments. Authors' statements about causes of neck pain and the importance of ergonomics are in the Discussion and were not tested.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that voice strain causes poor mental health or that reducing loud speaking will improve wellbeing. The study is a self-report survey, and speaking louder was not significantly related to mental health or burnout risk.