PURPOSE: to analyze vocal symptoms from two groups of teachers assessed during two different instances of a vocal health program. METHODS: correlate work conditions and habits with the number of vocal symptoms submitted by 411 teachers divided into G1 (256 subjects to be submitted to a prevention program) and G2 (155 subjects to be submitted to a prevention and treatment program). RESULTS: it was observed that in both groups there was a larger number of women (p=0.550), aged 31 to 40 years (p=0.557), teaching for more than one grade (p=0.345) and with up to 30 students per class (p=0.521); they related presence of noise in their work environment (p=0.660), used to take care of their voices (p=0.231), were non-smokers (p=0.010), used their voices in extra-professional activities and did not have the habit of drinking. On the other hand, both groups were different upon relating daily work hours; in G1 most teachers worked up to 5 hours a day, and in G2 most of them used to work 6 to 10 hours a day. G1 had 51% of individuals who did not search for a laryngologist's or speech pathologist's help when needed while in G2 a higher percentage of individuals (68.38%) had already looked for a specialist due to voice disorders. Both groups had a large number of voice symptoms (> 4), in G1 the mean number of symptoms was 3.5 while in G2 it was 5.8; demonstrating a statistically higher percentage of symptoms in G2 (98.05%) than in G1 (57%) - p<0.001. CONCLUSION: although both groups had similar profiles, a higher mean of vocal symptoms was found in G2, meaning that this group looked for the speech pathology assistance already with a higher risk of voice disorders, possibly due to the usage of a different type of intervention (by offering a vocal rehabilitation), which attracted teachers with more disorders. Thus, it is very important to offer vocal health programs focusing both prevention as well as vocal treatment, because these will contribute not only to the subjects' work but also to their quality of life.
Voice; Symptoms; Habits; Working Conditions; Voice Disorders
