Purpose:

To characterize risk factors of dysphonia in the occupa tional context and vocal abuse and misuse in teachers. Methods: Cross-sectional, descriptive study in which 70 teachers of municipal basic education from the city of Iquique, Chile, were interviewed to detect Occupational and Personal Factors affecting the Phonatory System. The results were analyzed with the SPSS program version 19.0 through descriptive statistics.

Results:

80% of teachers surveyed have not received any type of vocal training. The most frequent abuse and vocal misuse behaviors are: increase the intensity of the voice (72.8), shout (57.1%) clearing the throat (41.1%) and low water consumption (75%). In the occupational context, it was found that 82% used their voice more than 6 hours a day, 75% indicated having between 35-41 students per class, 90% working in classrooms built with reverberant material and 58.5% works under constant air cur rents.

Conclusions:

This study shows the lack of training that teach ers have about the proper use of their voice. There are multiple personal and labor-environmental factors that affect the presence of occupational dysphonia.

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