Epidemiological voice health map of the teaching population of Granollers (Barcelona) developed from the EVES questionnaire and the VHI

Abstract

The aim of this research project was to carry out an epidemiological study on the voice health of the teaching population in Granollers (Barcelona) using the EVES questionnaire and to relate the collected data to the VHI results. The study sample consisted of 233 teachers from Granollers (Barcelona). The EVES questionnaire, which includes the VHI-10, was conducted online. A high percentage of the teachers consulted suffered voice disorders, which ranged from minor to more serious cases. In regard to the data obtained using the VHI, in 28.77% of the cases there was a moderate or a serious perception of voice problems. Out of these cases only one person, who had a moderate perception of their problem, was undergoing voice therapy with a speech therapist. There are three questions in the EVES questionnaire that can efficiently indicate the existence of a voice disorder in a straightforward manner, and the results for these were similar to those recorded for the VHI group of questions. Therefore, it may be argued that questions that refer to the perception of the degree of pleasantness of one's own voice should be included, because they would provide a useful way to indicate whether there is a voice problem at a preliminary screening stage.

Key words::

• Epidemiological study
• risk factors
• teachers
• voice disorders
• Voice Handicap Index

Declaration of interest: This work was supported by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona under a PIF programme. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Supplementary material available online

Supplementary Appendix available online at http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/14015439.2014.934278