Prevalence of Self-Reported Voice Concerns and Associated Risk Markers in a Nonclinical Sample of Military Service Members.

Introduction: Difficult communication environments are common in military settings, and effective voice use can be critical to mission success. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of self-reported voice disorders among U.S. military service members and to identify factors that contribute to...

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Publicado en:Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research Vol. 66; no. 9; pp. 3364 - 3382
Autores principales: Perry, Trevor T., Brungart, Douglas S., Myers, Jennifer Rae, Cord, Laura L., Solomon, Nancy Pearl
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Sep2023
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Sep2023
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      pub: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
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        10.1044/2023_JSLHR-23-00150
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        atl: Prevalence of Self-Reported Voice Concerns and Associated Risk Markers in a Nonclinical Sample of Military Service Members.
      aug:
        au:
          Perry, Trevor T.
          Brungart, Douglas S.
          Myers, Jennifer Rae
          Cord, Laura L.
          Solomon, Nancy Pearl
        affil:
          National Military Audiology & Speech Pathology Center, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD
          Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, APHC Research Participation Program, TN
          National Center for Rehabilitative Auditory Research, VA Portland Health Care System, OR
          Department of Surgery, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD
      su:
        United States
        Self-evaluation
        Sex distribution
        Communication
        Psychology of military personnel
        Disease risk factors
        Tinnitus
        Hoarseness
        Confidence intervals
        Cadmium
        Occupational exposure
        Military service
        Surveys
        Risk assessment
        Audiometry
        Questionnaires
        Chi-squared test
        Descriptive statistics
        Research funding
        Logistic regression analysis
        Odds ratio
        Fatigue (Physiology)
        Voice disorders
        Epidemiological research
        Symptoms
      sug:
        subj:
          Self-evaluation
          Sex distribution
          Communication
          Psychology of military personnel
          Disease risk factors
          United States
          Tinnitus
          Hoarseness
          Confidence intervals
          Cadmium
          Occupational exposure
          Military service
          Surveys
          Risk assessment
          Audiometry
          Questionnaires
          Chi-squared test
          Descriptive statistics
          Research funding
          Logistic regression analysis
          Odds ratio
          Fatigue (Physiology)
          Voice disorders
          Epidemiological research
          Symptoms
      ab: Introduction: Difficult communication environments are common in military settings, and effective voice use can be critical to mission success. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of self-reported voice disorders among U.S. military service members and to identify factors that contribute to their voice concerns. Method: A nonclinical sample of 4,123 active-duty service members was recruited across Department of Defense hearing conservation clinics. During their required annual hearing evaluation, volunteers provided responses to voice-related questions including a slightly adapted version of the Voice Handicap Index-10 (VHI-10) as part of a larger survey about communication issues. Changepoint detection was applied to age and years of service to explore cohort effects in the reporting of voice concerns. Logistic regression analyses examined multiple available factors related to communication to identify factors associated with abnormal results on the VHI-10. Results: Among the respondents, 41% reported experiencing vocal hoarseness or fatigue at least several times per year, and 8.2% (n = 336) scored above the recommended abnormal cut-point value of 11 on the VHI-10. Factors independently associated with the greatest risk for self-reported voice concerns were sex (female), cadmium exposure, vocal demands (the need for a strong, clear voice), and auditory health measures (frequency of experiencing temporary threshold shifts; self-reported hearing difficulties). Conclusions: Based on self-reported voice concerns and false negative rates reported in the literature, the prevalence of dysphonia in a large sample of active-duty service members is estimated to be 11.7%, which is higher than that in the general population. Certain predictors for voice concerns were expected based on previous literature, like female sex and voice use, but frequency of temporary threshold shifts and exposure to cadmium were surprising. The strong link between voice and auditory problems has particular implications regarding the need for effective communication in high-noise military and other occupational environments.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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