Check-App Voice®: A Tool to Self-evaluate Dysphonia in Speaking Voice Among Teachers

Orlando, M. P.; Lo Castro, F.; Diano, M.; Palomba, R.; Mariconte, R.; Amodeo, M.; Giliberti, C.

During the SARS-Cov-2 pandemic, a tailor-made app (Check-app voice®) has been developed to submit Voice Handicap Index (VHI) questionnaire for self-assessment of dysphonia to a sample of 219 teachers. Check-app voice® provides VHI calculation and collects answers for post-processing analysis. Results have been statistically analysed taking age, gender, school categories (nursery and primary, middle, high school, and university), length of service, anamnestic data (illnesses, smoke, alcohol habits) into account. The sample of female teachers (the most numerous) has been analysed in detail. The contribution of three domains, functional, physical, and emotional to the overall VHI, has been discussed per type of school and age group. The results show that this tool represents an easy, quick to use prevention method for promptly identifying the groups most at risk of the onset of vocal disorders. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.