Browsing by Subject "äänihäiriö"

Aim. Voice problems are more common with teachers than in any other group of employees and that often complicates working. If voice problems become chronic, that may lead to difficulties with career and cause substantial costs to the society. Still, only less than half of those with voice problems search for professional healthcare. The purpose of the study was to explore what kind of help teachers were looking for their problems, and how the healthcare reacted. Methods. Structured questionnaire, which gathered the following information: the length of teaching experience, number of pupils in class, the experienced handicap of personal voice problem, and if the teachers had searched for and got help from public healthcare providers or somewhere else. The questionnaire was available at a teachers' closed Facebook group. The results were analyzed with the SPSS Statistics using cross-tabulation and Spearman's rank-order correlation. Results and discussion. 43 teachers completed the online questionnaire during a four-week period. The respondents were all around Finland, 46.5% of them had experienced voice problems, which complicated their work during their careers and 61% of them pursued for medical help. The most common reason why help wasn't seeked was that the problem was relieved with rest. The most common consequence of seeking help was sick leave. In general, the teachers felt that they were taken seriously at the healthcare institution but the contact didn't necessarily lead to alleviation of the voice problem. The results are similar as in other studies. Reasons and origin of voice problems are diverse and extended. Teachers' voice problems should be prevented with voice education during their education.