Vocal Health Problems in University Professors: Perspectives from a Speech Language Pathologist

University professors have a substantial impact on students' lives and their educational direction. These faculty are essential to the development of knowledge and critical thinking in a variety of disciplines serving as mentors, lecturers, and researchers. Professors push their students to critically think, participate, collaborate, and consider many perspectives through lectures, seminars, and conversations. In regards to this, prolonged speaking can cause vocal strain in university professors. In a recent systematic review and meta-analysis done by Azari and colleagues in 2024, the researchers reported an overall prevalence of voice disorders in university professors to be 41%. Such encountered problems do have a significant impact on their quality of life and the quality of education delivery.

What type of problems do they face?

Some of the common problems faced by university professors include voice fatigue, throat clearing, hoarseness, reduced loudness of voice, and even more serious problems including nodules or polyps on the vocal cords, chronic cough, or loss of voice (aphonia). A recent Saudi study done by Alharbi and colleagues in 2024 reported hoarseness and dry throat as the most prevalent voice symptoms in teachers. In a Pakistani study done by Wasay and colleagues in 2023, the researchers found around 19% of University teachers experience severe voice disorders, 23% with moderate voice disorders, and 58% with mild voice disorders, with a higher prevalence of males (59%) reporting greater severity than females (41%). Similar findings were reported by Azari and colleagues in an Iranian study where they found rehabilitation professors to report of vocal fatigue (64%), hoarseness (61%), pain (24%), breathy voice (16%), vocal strain (15%), monotone voice (14%), pitch breaks (12%), aphonia (6%), and voice tremor (5%). There may be multiple reasons causing these issues, such as using the incorrect voice style, poor water intake, and less vocal rest. Apart from being uncomfortable, having a voice problem can have a negative impact on the teacher's effectiveness in the classroom. Having a scratchy voice or a diminished vocal range may be challenging for the teacher to keep the students engaged throughout class, and to communicate ideas effectively. This in turn affects student learning in addition to the faculty's job performance. Furthermore, vocal health issues among teachers lead to common psychological effects such as low self-esteem, frustration and irritability, anxiety, depression, and stress.

What are the strategies for vocal health care?

Awareness and Education: Educational institutions must consider offering awareness programs on managing vocal health, which includes techniques for proper use and care of their voice. Teaching faculty must attend workshops on the value of vocal hygiene programs, voice projection, and effective breathing techniques. In a study done by Gomes, Teixeira and de Medeiros in 2020, the authors recommended developing education programs to raise the awareness levels of professors about risk factors for voice and the significance of enhancing their communicative performance.   Voice Rest and Recovery: It becomes important for teachers to include vocal rest in their day-to-day activities. Teachers should plan to relax their voices, especially after speaking for extended periods, and also plan vocal pauses intermittently during lectures.Correct Breathing Techniques: Teachers must learn to engage in controlled abdominal breathing that may promote voice projection without strain. This will help reduce vocal fatigue making the voice sound more resonant.Hydration: Maintaining vocal health requires drinking sufficient water. Teachers must restrict their intake of dehydration-causing substances such as alcohol and caffeine and instead drink sufficient water throughout the day. In Azari’s study, the researchers reported caffeine consumption as the most frequent related factor (87%), with dry throat being the most frequent symptom (46%) in university professors. 

Environmental Changes: With the acoustics of the classroom influencing vocal health, teachers should make an effort to improve the classroom layout and reduce the background noise to enhance the learning environment. Teachers can use microphones to reduce the need to raise one’s voice in larger classrooms.Professional Support: Consulting speech-language pathologists can be very helpful, as they can offer tailor-made methods and exercises to improve vocal health and ideal classroom dynamics.

Teaching faculty can therefore safeguard their voices and improve their workplace efficiency by becoming aware of the problems caused by vocal strain, and the application of proactive vocal care practices. Investing in voice health does benefit teachers as well as students, creating a more productive and stimulating learning environment.