Is remote and distance teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic related to the university professors' weight gain, body mass index changes, hearing complaints, and self-perception of voice?
Luciana Lozza de Moraes Marchiori; Glória de Moraes Marchiori; Matheus Lindofer Rodrigues; Priscila Carlos; Nicoli Meurer Cordova; Michelle Cardoso Machado dos Santos; Braulio Henrique Magnani Branco; Daiane Soares de Almeida Ciquinato
Abstract
Purpose: to verify the impact of weight and BMI (Body Mass Index) changes on auditory and vocal symptoms in university professors, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: the symptoms were assessed with a semi-structured questionnaire developed on Google Forms, to which the consent form was appended. It comprised 27 questions related to symptoms, changes, and health, during the pandemic – specifically, vocal and auditory symptoms, anthropometric factors, vocal parameters, physical activity, neck pain, and comorbidities. The Mann-Whitney and Chi-square test were used to identify differences or associations between variables (95% CI; P < 0.05).
Results: altogether, 74 professors who comprise the faculty of the undergraduate program at the institution where the research was conducted were assessed. Significant differences were found between those with auditory symptoms (G1: worsened hearing; G2: unchanged hearing) regarding BMI, in which G1 had higher values; and sleep, in which G1 slept fewer hours. The chi-square test showed an association between the groups and BMI classification – those with worsened hearing (G1) were more overweight and their sleeping hours were more affected. There was also an association between the groups and voice change, headphone use (mainly in-ear) during classes, dizziness or vertigo episodes, tinnitus episodes and headache.
Conclusion: this study revealed an association between worsened hearing, sleep, and BMI in university professors due to remote and distance teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords
Referencias
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Submitted date:
06/06/2021
Accepted date:
26/10/2021
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