Respiratory and laryngeal function during spontaneous speaking in teachers with voice disorders.

Purpose: To determine if respiratory and laryngeal function during spontaneous speaking were different for teachers with voice disorders compared with teachers without voice problems.

Method: Eighteen teachers, 9 with and 9 without voice disorders, were included in this study. Respiratory function was measured with magnetometry, and laryngeal function was measured with electroglottography during 3 spontaneous speaking tasks: a simulated teaching task at a typical loudness level, a simulated teaching task at an increased loudness level, and a conversational speaking task. Electroglottography measures were also obtained for 3 structured speaking tasks: a paragraph reading task, a sustained vowel, and a maximum phonation time vowel.

Results: Teachers with voice disorders started and ended their breath groups at significantly smaller lung volumes than teachers without voice problems during teaching-related speaking tasks; however, there were no between-group differences in laryngeal measures. Task-related differences were found on several respiratory measures and on one laryngeal measure.

Conclusions: These findings suggest that teachers with voice disorders used different speech breathing strategies than teachers without voice problems. Implications for clinical management of teachers with voice disorders are discussed.