A Longitudinal Study of Vocal Symptomatology in Teachers During Distance, Hybrid, and In-Person Teaching.

Objective: To compare the vocal symptomatology of professors from a federal university who engaged in distance, hybrid, and face-to-face teaching during and after the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic period.

Method: The study included 40 university professors, 20 men and 20 women, whose symptomatology was monitored at three time points: during the distance teaching period due to social isolation caused by COVID-19, in hybrid teaching (partial return), and upon returning to face-to-face teaching, which required the use of face masks and posed contamination risks.

Results: The hybrid phase presented the highest absence of vocal complaints/discomfort, and most participants did not need to be reassigned due to vocal problems. Although the hybrid phase showed the highest number of responses with no vocal complaints, the transition back to face-to-face teaching revealed a significant increase in vocal issues, possibly due to prolonged mask usage and the ongoing risk of COVID-19.

Conclusion: The perception of vocal problems was higher during the return to face-to-face teaching. The main symptoms reported during this phase were shoulder pain and tension, hoarseness, burning sensation, and voice failures.