The Prevalence of Voice Disorders among Thai Monks in Prathum Thani Province, Thailand

• Main Author: 張智惠
• Other Authors: SHENG, HWA CHEN
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/5zcgbb

碩士 === 國立臺北護理健康大學 === 語言治療與聽力研究所 === 106 === Professional voice users are those who rely on their voice as an essential tool for their effective verbal communication in their careers. Their vocal demand is high; as a result, a voice disorder can badly affect their work performance as well as their quality of life. The relationship between voice and professions has become an interesting issue in a research study. There have been studies associated with prevalence of voice disorders in some professional voice users such as teachers, singers, actors, telemarketers, and members of clergy. In Thailand, a majority of people are Buddhism. A monk, one of the representatives of the Buddhism, has a significant role in the society. Similar to other profession, monks require their vocal use to perform their tasks and duties; therefore, voice disorders as well can bring a negative impact in their lives. So far, there has not been a study about voice disorder among Thai monks yet. The main purpose of the present study is to determine the prevalence of voice disorders in this population. A total numbers of 453 Thai monks have been randomly selected from 7 districts of PrathumThani Province. All participants have been requested to answer a set of questionnaire, a Thai version of Voice Disorder Questionnaire adapted from Chen, Chiang, Chung, Hsiao, & Hsiao (2010). Descriptive analysis and Chi-Square statistics were implied in order to find out the percentage of the voice disorder among Thai monks, the significant differences and the effects of the voice disorder. The result shows that 50% of the participants currently suffer from voice disorder while almost 80% of the sample experienced voice disorder sometime in the past. The different characteristics found between voice disorder and no voice disorder groups include daily smoking, current health problems and medications, job-related stress, and voice use in open area. However, daily smoking, current health problems and medications, and loud voice use were more frequent in monks without current voice disorders. The findings from this research may be useful in evaluation and diagnosis of voice disorders among Thai monks in the future.