• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 1998

Objectives : To compare the objective differences in voice quality and voice problems between clergies and normal male control group. Materials and Methods : The sustained vowel sound of 46 clergies and 40 normal persons were analyzed, using a videostroboscopy and acoustic analyzer. Together with these analyses, a questionnaire associated with current and past voice problems was handed over to the patients. Results : The most common symptom in subjective group was the voice fatigue. Stroboscopic findings in subjective group were as following 23 cases(50%) of pachydermia, 17 cases(37%) of phase difference, 12 cases(25%) of anterior-posterior contracture, 6 cases(13%) of vocal polyp and 3 cases(7%) of vocal nodule. The mean maximal phonation time in clergies was 17.8 seconds and in control group was 19 seconds. litter, pitch perturbation quotient and shimmer were significantly increased in subjective group than in control group(p<0.05), but there were no significant differences between two groups in fundamental frequency, vFo, amplitude perturbation quotient and noise to harmonic ratio. Conclusion : In the clergies using loud and forceful voice, vocal polyp and functional voice disorder findings were frequently noted in stroboscopic examination. litter and shimmer, reflecting the roughness of voice, were increased in acoustic analysis. Therefore, clergies, classified into untrained professional voice users, need professional career guidance and counseling.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.9 no.8
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• pp.149-154
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• 2018

As the range of professional voice users are expanding, interest towards voice increases as well. Especially as teachers compose the occupational group, exposed to high risk of voice disorder, it is necessary to identify the cause of speech problems and speech disorders. The purpose of this study is to analyze the voice characteristics of teachers and to investigate the causes of voice disorders. From 2000 to 2018, 414 studies were found under a combinated set search words of 'profession', 'Teacher', 'Professional Voice User', 'Voice', 'Voice disorders', 'Risk' and out of them, 8 studies were selected as final focus analysis subjects. The qualitative evaluation was carried out by modifying the Quality: checklist for assessing the Risk of bias. The study confirmed that voice misuse frequently occurred to teachers when they used their voice and this feature was affected by the environment. These results suggest that environment improvement of teachers' speech abuse and consistent voice education are necessary.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.123-133
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• 2010

Speech language pathologists depend on their voice for livelihood and are high risk group of voice disorders. But there are few studies on their prevalence of voice symptoms and voice handicap index. This study aimed to evaluate prevalence of voice symptoms and Korean voice handicap index with 86 speech language pathologists and 90 individuals employed in other occupations. We analyzed self-reported voice symptoms and voice handicap index using a questionnaire for this study. The results showed that the prevalence of voice symptoms of speech language pathologists is 60.5% and voice handicap index scores of speech language pathologists group are significantly higher than those of control group in physical and total score. And we found that alcohol history was a risk factor for voice symptoms. These findings indicate that special vocal hygiene program for speech language pathologists and follow up studies for comparisons of prevalence of voice symptoms and voice handicap index with other professional voice users are necessary.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.397-405
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• 2015

This survey was to identify voice symptoms and vocal-health service related experiences of occupational voice users(teachers, telemarketers, speech therapists). The 91.8% of teachers, 97.9% of telemarketers, 86% of speech therapists surveyed reported more than one voice symptom. The symptoms were classified as 9 categories(running a temperature, getting dry, dry and cough, pain, phlegm, tingled, hoarseness, cracks, swollen) and the most frequently reported from 3 groups was 'getting dry'. The 85.7% of teachers, 87.8% of telemarketers, 66% of therapists surveyed had no experience of vocal-health related services. The 19.6%, 19.9%, and 72% of each group reported they have heard both of 'voice/speech therapist'. The 36.8% of teachers and 43.6% of telemarketers answered they don't know how to use their voice efficiently and 45.3% of the teachers, 43.6% of the telemarketers, 28% of the therapists surveyed asked professional help for their voice. The result showed that most of the occupational voice users surveyed experienced voice symptoms but rarely knew professional vocal-health related services.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.105-114
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• 2012

This paper will discuss the difference between self assessment of voice disorders and the hearer voice assessment of a comparative group of normal subjects. The study was conducted on 25 voice disorder subjects and 32 hearers of a comparative group of normal subjects. The results are as follows. Firstly, in K-VHI and VHI-H, the hearers of the comparative group of normal subjects perceived more serious voice disorders than the voice disorder group in all sub-domains. Likewise, in K-VQOL and VRQOL-H, the hearers of the comparative group of normal subjects perceived more serious voice disorders than the voice disorder group in all sub-domains. Secondly, the hearer voice assessment of the comparative group of normal subjects showed no difference in gender regarding the perception of the severity of voice disorder issues. Thirdly, the hearer voice assessment of the comparative group of normal subjects states that in the emotional aspects of VHI-H, professional voice users perceive more serious voice disorders than others. Accordingly, in VRQOL-H, there was no difference in use of the voice between professionals and others.

• Phonetics and Speech Sciences
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.99-106
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• 2017

Clinical data about vocal nodules have seldom been reported, even though vocal nodules are commonly diagnosed in outpatient speech and voice clinic. This study aims to investigate clinical characteristics of the patients who are diagnosed with vocal nodules. This study analyzed the data for 10 years from the 319 patients diagnosed with vocal nodules (45 males and 274 females with the mean age of 39.4 ranging from 2 to 83) in terms of gender, age, occupation, voice change initiation pattern, change with time, throat clearing, smoking history, type of voice abuse, acoustic analysis, maximum phonation time, GRBAS, and VHI. Thirteen patients (4.08%) had unilateral vocal nodule and 306 patients (95.9%) had bilateral vocal nodule, the majority of which had a pattern of asymmetry (73.9%). The glottal closure pattern was hourglass in 72.1% of patients, posterior chink in 17.9% of patients, and irregular in 7.9% of patients. The most common occupational category was professional voice users (43.4%). The voice abuse pattern included excessive talking in 96 patients (76.8%), loud voice in 78 (62.4%) patients, and excessive singing in 17 patients (21.6%). The patients showed worse scores in G, B, and S than in R and A for the GRBAS evaluation. The most recommended treatment for vocal nodules was voice therapy. The current clinical data will be helpful for treatment planning for the patients of vocal nodule.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.7-10
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• 2008

The early glottic cancers are traditionally treated by radiotherapy or endoscopic surgery. The excellent effectiveness of both treatment modalities for local control, larynx preservation, and disease specific death is similar. Therefore, functional voice outcome after treatment is one of the most important factors in the choice of treatment for early glottic cancer. To assess the functional outcomes and compare the voice quality in patients with early glottic cancer treated with curative intent with radiotherapy or laser cordectomy, we performed literature review. Most studies showed that the voice quality after radiation therapy is slightly better than that after laser cordectomy. Subanalysis according to types of laser cordectomy, however, indicates that voice quality depends on type of laser cordectomy. Especially, type I or type II laser cordectomy might be superior to other types of laser cordectomy and radiation therapy. We conclude that the laser cordectomy is a good surgical alternative for properly selected early glottic cancer including professional voice users.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.10-15
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• 2004

Background and Objective : Voice disorders are one of the major occupational hazards of school teaching. Prolonged voice use through verbal instruction has been implicated as a cause of vocal impairment among members of this profession. They all depend on their voice for their livelihood and are greatly alarmed by slightest alteration in voice quality. Despite considerable research in the area of voice problems in teachers, the prevalence of voice disorders in this group is unknown. Severe voice problems can affect teacher's ability to teach in the classroom. Materials and Method : This study investigated the prevalence of self-reported voice problems in teachers using a survey of a simple random sample of middle school teachers (n=1000). As part of the survey, teachers were asked to report voice problems for the day of the survey, duration, main symptom, smoking, caffeine, alcohol history etc. Results : The reponse rate was 91%(n=94) with 89.7%(n=812) teachers reporting voice problems on the day of the survey, and 40%(n=330) of these group reporting the history of medical consult. Conclusion : These finding indicate a need for vocal hygiene education in teachers and for the development of educational programs aimed at preventing voice problems in this group of professional voice users.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.39-48
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in acoustic characteristics after drinking alcoholic beverages and singing in order to establish guidelines for vocal hygiene of both singers and non-singers. 21 university students (10 males and 11 females) vocalized /a/ before drinking, after drinking and after singing. Changes in vocal range and acoustic characteristics were analyzed by Dr. Speech 4.0 (Tigers Electronics). No significant difference was observed in vocal range following drinking. However, there was statistically significant changes in vocal range after singing. We may infer that appropriate amount of singing functioning as vocal warm-up, rather than drinking alone, resulted in improvement in their abilities to lengthen vocal folds. This is directly related to the ability to produce high-pitched sounds. Changes in jitter in female voices after singing was the only acoustic factor that was significant. Changes in Shimmer and NNE was not significant either after drinking nor singing. Subjects who were judged to perform better in singing were marked by minimum acoustic changes, which may due to their well-trained vocal fold function. The results of this study may address the necessity for vocal function exercises for the patients with neurogenic voice disorders including dysarthria. The need for more extensive research with a larger number of subjects including professional voice users is also addressed.

• Speech Sciences
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.169-189
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• 2003

Trained singers, one group of professional voice users, have much more interest on the voice than common people, and on its management, too. They train for singing beautiful songs, and, at the same time, try for efficient voice production. The present study was performed with three tenors and three baritones, undergraduate students majored in classical singing, to investigate the degree of improvement of their voice production efficiency through vocal function exercise, by measuring the three dependent variables, maximum phonation time, speed quotient of glottal contact, and the number of semi tones. For the baseline establishment, dependent variables were measured 3$\sim$6 times for two weeks. Then, the subjects exercised vocal function exercise for seven weeks, and after the termination of training, evaluation was performed four times for two weeks, to find the maintenance of the training effect. Vocal function exercise is composed of four successive steps: warm-up, stretching exercise, contracting exercise, power exercise. As results, all of six subjects showed improvement in the aspect of maximum phonation time, speed quotient if glottal contact, and the number of semitones.