Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Abstract
Background and Objective: Teachers are the largest group of professional voice users, who use voice as the primary tool of their profession. Given the role of elementary schools teachers in educating and training children and the effect of voice quality on the quality of teaching and learning, the teachers’ voice issues could have adverse consequences for their profession. So, they are more susceptible to voice disorders than others. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of quality of voice health on the quality of life.
Methods: This study is a non-interventional descriptive- analytical cross-sectional one. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 211 female elementary school teachers from state elementary schools in the 13th & 15th districts in Tehran-Iran. The participants’ age range was between 31 to 55 years old. The research instruments were Vocal Tract Discomfort Scale (VTD) and Short Form Health Survey (SF-36). Acceptable reliability and validity have been reported for the scales by Torabi (2014) and Montazeri (2007).  The participants were divided into two groups based on their scores on the scales, which consisted of 9 common sign for complaints: one group with complaints (n=169) and the other without any complaints (n=42). Data were analyzed by SPSS statistic software (21th edition).
Results: Negative correlation was found between the frequency (r=-0.254, p=0.000) and severity (r=-0.242; p=0.001) of the vocal tract discomfort scale and physical component of Health Survey in teachers with voice complaints (p<0.05). Moreover, the correlation between frequency (r=-0.171; p=0.013) & severity (r=-0.183; p=0.009) and mental component of Health Survey was negative either. On the other hand, in the group without complaints, no correlation was found between frequency and severity of vocal track discomfort signs and physical and mental components of Health Survey.
Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that in teachers with voice complaints, the quality of life decreases with increasing the frequency and severity of vocal tract discomfort scale. So it is necessary to pay attention to diagnose the discomfort feeling of the patient. Likewise, the effort to reduce these feeling are significant to increase quality of life.