Occupational safety and health aspects of voice problems: Challenges for academics

Abstract

Prevalence of vocal problems during teaching career is one of the major concerns for Academics. Teachers frequently use a high-intensity voice in noisy classrooms for lengthy period without proper breaks. As a result, academician’s face different symptoms of voice disorders such as voice quality changes, voice breaks, voice projection difficulty, and throat discomfort. Most of these problems are preventable and prevention programs need to be developed and evaluated. The purpose is to review the main risk factors, identify importance of training programs, implementation of effective diagnosis process and treatment strategies of voice disorders. Teachers who suffer from voice disorders have a negative impact on their occupation along with complex health problems. So it is very important to ensure the occupational safety for academicians in order to reduce their rate of prevalence.