Impact of a Workplace Vocal Health Promotion Program on Vocal Doses in College Professors: a Colombian Exploratory Study

Objective. To determine the effect of a workplace vocal health promotion (WVHP) program on Colombian college professors’ vocal doses. This is an exploratory pre-post-intervention study. Methods. College professors were randomly allocated to one of two groups: no-intervention or intervention. Participants filled out a general questionnaire and were monitored using a vocal dosimeter during the complete duration of an in-person class before and after their participation in the program. The WVHP program consisted of four sessions (2 in-person and 2 online sessions; one per week) focused on vocal hygiene and training and teaching-learning strategies to be implemented inside the classrooms. Results. The intervention group (n = 6) had a 3% decrease in time dose percentage after participating in the WVHP program, whereas professors from the no-intervention group had an increase of 1% after the follow-up (p >0.05). Participants from the no-intervention group had a statistically significant increased distance dose normalized (β = 0.078; p = 0.01) in comparison with the intervention group. Conclusions. The WVHP program seems to be a good preventive strategy for reducing voice disorders among occupational voice users. Although statistical significance was not achieved for most vocal dose parameters, the observed trends suggest that work-based structured vocal health interventions may contribute to safer and more sustainable voice use in occupational settings.