The effectiveness of a voice care program among primary school teachers in northeastern Malaysia

Abstract EN

Objectives : we sought to determine the effectiveness of a voice care program among primary school teachers in a northeastern district in Malaysia.

Methods : we conducted a randomized community trial in eight primary schools in a northeastern district in Malaysia.

the self-administered and validated Malay-voice handicap index-10 (m-vhi-10) questionnaire was used to assess overall voice handicap scores pre-intervention and eight weeks post-intervention.

teachers with a score of five or more (n = 86) were randomized into intervention (n = 41) and control groups (n = 45).

the intervention group received portable voice amplifiers and vocal hygiene instruction, which was delivered by lectures and a booklet.

the control group was not prescribed any intervention.

Results : the sociodemographic, lifestyle, and occupational characteristics of the teachers (except maximum number of students per class) were similar between both groups.

the baseline m-vhi-10 scores between both groups were also comparable.

after the intervention phase, there was a significant effect observed in the total m-vhi-10 scores (p = 0.021, f-stat (DF ): 5.33 (1,79)) between both groups after controlling for the maximum number of students per class.

Conclusions : our results support the use of voice amplification in adjunct with vocal hygiene instruction as a prevention and treatment modality to reduce voice handicap among teachers.

our study demonstrated encouraging evidence on the low-cost voice care program as well as the success of group and workplace-based approaches in the school setting.