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.