Original Research Article
Year: 2017 | Month: May | Volume: 7 | Issue: 5 | Pages: 258-263
Effect of a Voice Training Program on Acoustic Voice Parameters in Secondary School Teachers
Sadhana A Relekar, Geetha Mukundan
Department of Speech Language Pathology, Ali Yavar Jung National Institute of Speech and Hearing Disabilities (Divyangjan), Bandra, Mumbai 400050
Corresponding Author: Sadhana A Relekar
ABSTRACT
Teachers are known to be vulnerable to voice disorders because of the excessive use of their voice for professional purposes. This study aimed to investigate the effects of a vocal training program on select acoustic voice parameters in secondary school teachers. The study sample comprised 60 premenopausal female secondary school teachers. The subjects were divided into the experimental (n = 30) and control (n = 30) groups. The experimental group underwent a vocal training program for 15 days, whereas the control group did not receive any training. The training included a combination of yogic and vocal function exercises. Results showed significant differences in the post-training values of fundamental frequency, jitter (%), relative average perturbation, pitch perturbation quotient, shimmer (dB), amplitude perturbation quotient, and noise-to-harmonic ratio between the experimental and control groups. Thus, the vocal training program showed positive effects on the voice quality of secondary school teachers.
Key words: acoustic parameters, vocal training program, vocal function exercises, yoga