FREQUENCY AND RISK-FACTORS FOR VOICE PROBLEMS IN TEACHERS OF SINGING AND CONTROL SUBJECTS

Using a questionnaire format, 125 teachers of singing and 49 control s ubjects indicated whether they had a current or past voice problem, an d provided information about their demographic characteristics, voice use patterns, and medication use. The results revealed similar rates o f current voice problems reported by the two subject groups, However, teachers of singing were considerably more likely to report ever havin g had a voice problem than controls (64 vs. 33%). Risk factors were si milar for the two groups. Dehydrating medications and a report of a pa st voice problem both increased the likelihood of perceiving a current problem, by a factor of three and five, respectively. Females were tw ice as likely to report a past voice problem as males, and younger sub jects were slightly more likely to report a past problem as compared w ith older subjects. The implications of the findings are discussed fro m a theoretical as well as pragmatic perspective.