University Professor: description of vocal and postural characteristics

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to describe characteristics of voice and posture of University professors. The subjects were four professors submitted to voice and posture evaluation. The voice and speech samples were analyzed by two experienced judges. The posture evaluation was carried out by a physiotherapist by using the Postural Assessment Software (Sapo). Regarding the complaints of vocal symptoms the oldest and with longer careers were the ones who self-referred the symptoms. The auditory voice-perception analysis revealed that none of the subjects presented voice disorder. In the self-evaluation questionnaire none of the subjects referred voice handicap. In the posture evaluation, all subjects showed head tilt inclination, protraction head and the unevenness of the shoulders and scapulae. The cases described do not allow us to associate time of service with posture and vocal problems. However we find the relation between voice and posture suggesting more researchers with a larger number of subjects for more assertive conclusions.