Are classroom thermal conditions, lighting, and acoustics related to teacher health symptoms?

Psychometric properties of the newly developed self-report environmental determinants of health questionnaire (EDH-Q): development and validation

BACKGROUND

The environmental determinants of health (EDH) have a significant impact on people's physical, mental, and social wellbeing. Everyone needs access to environmental resources of all types, including food, materials, and energy, to survive. Currently, no valid and reliable instrument exists for evaluating individuals' perceived levels of EDH. Hence, the purpose of this study was to develop and validate the environmental determinants of health questionnaire (EDH-Q) among undergraduate students in Nigeria.

METHOD

We conducted a cross-sectional survey among undergraduate students in Nigeria to assess the psychometric properties of the newly developed Environmental Determinants of Health Questionnaire (EDH-Q). Respondents were selected using a convenience sampling approach to evaluate their perceptions of environmental determinants of health. The Content Validity Index (CVI) and Face Validity Index (FVI) were calculated to ascertain the scale's content validity and response process validity, respectively. Additionally, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), composite reliability (CR), average variance extracted (AVE), Cronbach's alpha, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were computed to assess the scale's construct validity.

RESULTS

The study involved 300 respondents in the EFA (males 55.7%, females 44.3%) and 430 respondents in the CFA (males 54.0%, females 46.0%). In the EFA, two constructs were identified (the natural environment and the built environment). The EFA model was able to explain 63.57% of the total cumulative variance, and the factor correlation was 0.671. The whole scale Cronbach's alpha value was 0.947, while the two constructs' Cronbach's alpha values were 0.918 (natural environment) and 0.935 (built environment). In the CFA, six pairs of error covariances were included between items within the same construct to improve the fit indices of the initial proposed measurement model. The final re-specified measurement model showed that the EDH-Q, which has two constructs and 18 items, has adequate construct validity (CFI = 0.948, TLI = 0.938, SRMR = 0.046, RMSEA = 0.052, and RMSEA p-value = 0.344). The CRs were 0.845 (natural environment) and 0.854 (built environment). The ICCs were 0.976 (natural environment) and 0.970 (built environment).

CONCLUSION

The results show that the newly created EDH-Q has sufficient construct validity and may be utilized to assess participants' perceptions of their level of EDH. Researchers should examine this instrument in populations with different age ranges and other demographic characteristics, as the present study only applied it to undergraduate students who may share similar characteristics.

The Effects of Classroom Acoustic Conditions on Teachers' Health and Well-Being: A Scoping Review

PURPOSE

Teachers spend a significant amount of time in classrooms, which can be noisy environments. The aim of this scoping review was to determine what is known from the literature about the effect of classroom acoustic conditions on teachers' health and well-being.

METHOD

This scoping review followed the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) protocol. Four bibliographic databases were searched: ERIC, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science.

RESULTS

Thirty-three articles were deemed relevant for the review. The most studied health aspect was teachers' vocal health. The majority of results showed higher noise levels or a higher number of students have a negative effect on teachers' health and well-being (61% and 60%, respectively), while 39% showed a negative effect of longer reverberation times. Most other results showed no effect.

CONCLUSIONS

These results show that poor classroom acoustic conditions can have a negative effect on teachers' health and well-being. Therefore, creating classrooms with good acoustic conditions and controlling noise is vital. Limitations are discussed, and future research to better understand the relationship between classroom acoustic conditions and teachers' health and well-being is proposed. This future research will help in understanding the acoustic conditions that are needed to optimize teachers' health and well-being in the classroom.

Systematic Review of Literature on Prevalence of Vocal Fatigue Among Teachers

BACKGROUND

Previous results suggest that teaching is a high-risk profession for developing voice disorders.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to determine the prevalence of vocal fatigue among teachers and its relationship with voice acoustic parameters reported in previous studies.

METHOD

Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Statement Guidelines, we performed a systematic literature review including five databases: Scopus, Scielo, ScienceDirect, PubMed, and Web of Science. Information on study population, definition and evaluation of vocal fatigue, and teaching characteristics were extracted from each paper. The quality of the included publications was assessed using the "Quality assessment tool for quantitative studies".

RESULTS

In total, 14 publications met the inclusion criteria. The two most common work-related factors of vocal fatigue were high levels of noise inside classrooms and loud speaking voice use. Some investigations reported voice acoustic parameters such as fundamental frequency and vocal Sound Pressure Levels as associated with vocal fatigue.

CONCLUSION

Vocal fatigue is a prevalent symptom among teachers associated with teaching vocal demands. However, studies on objective parameters that complement self-reports, to quantify vocal fatigue are needed to determine permissible values for healthy occupational voice use.

Reopening higher education buildings in post-epidemic COVID-19 scenario: monitoring and assessment of indoor environmental quality after implementing ventilation protocols in Spain and Portugal

Post-epidemic protocols have been implemented in public buildings to keep indoor environments safe. However, indoor environmental conditions are affected by this decision, which also affect the occupants of buildings. This fact has major implications in educational buildings, where the satisfaction and learning performance of students may also be affected. This study investigates the impact of post-epidemic protocols on indoor environmental conditions in higher education buildings of one Portuguese and one Spanish university. A sensor monitoring campaign combined with a simultaneous questionnaire was conducted during the reopening of the educational buildings. Results showed that although renewal air protocols were effective and the mean CO₂ concentration levels remained low (742 ppm and 519 ppm in Portugal and Spain universities, respectively), students were dissatisfied with the current indoor environmental conditions. Significant differences were also found between the responses of Portuguese and Spanish students. Indeed, Spanish students showed warmer preferences (thermal neutrality = 23.3℃) than Portuguese students (thermal neutrality = 20.7℃). In terms of involved indoor factors, the obtained data showed significant correlations (p < 0.001) between acoustic factors and overall satisfaction in the Portuguese students (ρ = 0.540) and between thermal factors and overall satisfaction in the Spanish students (ρ = 0.522). Therefore, indoor environmental conditions should be improved by keeping spaces safe while minimizing the impact of post-epidemic protocols on student learning performance.