Voice problems of future speech-language pathologists

Students training to be educators frequently exhibit voice disorders prior to employment. To date, there exist no similar studies of future speech-language pathologists (SLPs). The study is designed as a prospective, nonrandomized survey. The objective of this study is to determine the voice problems of first year graduate students training to be SLPs. Participants were 104 first year graduate students majoring in speech-language pathology at two universities. The Quick Screen for Voice was administered. Participants who failed completed a questionnaire regarding voice problems, medical history, daily habits, and voice use. When responses further indicated voice-related problems, endoscopic examination was completed. Fourteen percent (N = 15) of the participants failed the screening by demonstrating two or more abnormal voice characteristics. These included persistent glottal fry (present in all who failed), low habitual pitch, juvenile resonance, hoarse, breathy, or strained phonation, abnormally low pitch on sustained vowels, and voice breaks during the frequency range. Twelve percent (N = 12) failed both the screening and follow-up questionnaire. Responses included self-reported dysphonia, medical history with voice-related side effects, difficulty with excessive voice use, and voice problems occurring daily or weekly. Endoscopic evaluation showed one participant with bilateral vocal nodules. The results suggest that voice problems among future SLPs (12%) are more common than the 3-9% reported in the general population and similar to the 11% previously reported for teachers. However, future SLP voice problems are less frequent than those reported among education majors (21%) and all college students (17%). Faculty should identify students with voice problems and emphasize optimal voice use in classroom and clinical settings.