Future teachers and the self-perception of vocal symptoms and knowledge about vocal health and hygiene.
Inaiê Caroline Brugnolo Rosa, Ana Paula Dassie-Leite, Eliane Cristina Pereira and 1 others
PMID 37820198WHAT IT FOUND
Future teachers reported high vocal symptoms but low knowledge of vocal hygiene.
Symptoms peaked in first-year students, while knowledge improved in later years and with age. Prior voice guidance did not significantly reduce reported symptoms, suggesting current educational interventions may be insufficient.
Key findings
01Participants scored above the cutoff for vocal symptoms on the VoiSS and below the cutoff for vocal health knowledge on the VHHQ.
02First-year students reported significantly higher emotional, limitation, and total vocal symptoms than students in other years.
03Students in their third and fourth years had significantly higher vocal health knowledge scores than those in earlier years, and knowledge correlated positively with age.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used convenience sampling, which may not represent all future teachers. No prior sample size calculation was performed, limiting the generalizability of the findings. The cross-sectional design cannot determine if the observed symptoms cause long-term vocal disorders or if they are transient stress responses. Self-reported data is subject to bias, and the study did not include objective acoustic or perceptual voice assessments.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was approved by the Ethics Committee for Human Research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that providing more vocal hygiene information will reduce vocal symptoms. The study found no correlation between knowledge scores and symptom scores, and prior guidance did not significantly lower symptoms, suggesting that knowledge alone is not protective.