Female Teacher's Voice During Teaching

Two voice therapy methods are compared. Activity noise levels and vocal load of teachers during teaching in primary school classrooms are evaluated. Acoustic and Workshop Interventions are implemented in order to reduce noise level during lesson.

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Key information

Conditions

Functional Voice Disorder Laryngeal Diseases Nervous System Diseases Neurologic Manifestations Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Respiratory Tract Diseases Signs and Symptoms Voice Disorders

Sex eligibility

Female

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

About this study

Due to the voice disorders, teachers are a major customer group for voice therapy. The main part of the study is comparison of two voice therapy methods.

There are several factors in the classroom that increase teacher's risk of voice disorders. One of the most significant is high noise level during lessons. This study explores the noise conditions the teachers are working in and how these conditions are related to the voice parameters and symptoms.

Finally, the study aims to determine whether classroom noise level can be lowered by improving classroom acoustics and by noise reducing workshops for teachers and pupils.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

Female teachers or teachers of special needs children from elementary schools
Voice symptoms and willingness to participate in voice therapy
Mother tongue Finnish
No hearing loss, no need to use a hearing aid
Non-smoking
No neurological diseases
No voice therapy during past year
Successful phoniatric examination with rigid laryngoscopy or nasal endoscopy

Exclusion criteria

Mother tongue other than Finnish
Need to use a hearing aid
Need for medical treatment in the larynx
Abnormalities of the larynx
Vocal cord paresis
Laryngitis
Posterior hypertrophy

Treatment and study plan

Voice therapy

Behavioral

Voice therapy with direct and indirect therapy elements.

Voice therapy with carryover strategies

Behavioral

Voice therapy with direct and indirect therapy elements and supplementary tasks and reminders.

Control Group

Other

No therapy during eight weeks. After the control period half of the group will be provided with Voice therapy and half with Voice therapy with carryover strategies.

Primary outcomes

The change of the well-being of the teachers' voice.

Time frame: Up to one week before the interventions, up to one week after the interventions, 6 months after the interventions, 1 year and 2 years after the interventions and up to one week after the control time (concerning control group).

Subjective evaluation.Data collected with a questionnaire (Voice Activity and Participation Profile, VAPP) from the participants, answers given on a visual analogical scale (VAS) of 100 mm (0 = no disorder, 100 = extreme disorder).

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of Oulu

Other

Collaborators

Oulu University Hospital
Sonvox AB
Tampere University
Umeå University

Registry information

Official study title

The Well-being of Female Teacher's Voice During Teaching

Important dates

Study start: 2009
Primary completion: 2014
Study completion: 2016
First posted: Dec 26, 2017
Registry last updated: Dec 26, 2017

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed