DOI: 10.26650/tr-ent.2026.1968559 ISSN: 2602-4837

Self-Reported Voice Problems and Associated Factors Among Emergency Department Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

Gamze Yeşilli Puzella, Gizem Erdem, Fatma Sena Toy, Mehmet Oğuzhan Özdinç
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Objective: Emergency department nurses may be at risk of voice problems due to continuous communication in noisy, stressful, and time-restricted working environments. This study aimed to examine self-reported voice problems and their associations with vocal behaviors, lifestyle factors, and workplace conditions among emergency nurses.Materials and Methods: The participants were 206 emergency department nurses working in public hospitals in Türkiye. The mean age was 31.61±9.08 years (range: 20-59 years). A self-administered online questionnaire that included items on demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, workplace conditions, and voice-related behaviors was used to collect data. The presence of self-reported voice problems was assessed using a dichotomous yes/no item.Results: Overall, 32% of participants reported having voice problems. Of the participants, 65.5% reported using their voice for ≥6 hours per day, 85.0% reported constant workplace noise, and 78.6% reported stress in the work environment. In addition, 68.0% reported the need to raise their voice when communicating with colleagues, and 85.9% reported an increased need to raise their voice during emergency interventions. Self-reported voice problems were significantly associated with smoking, tea-coffee consumption, perceived stress in the living and work environments, the need to raise the voice when communicating with colleagues, increased need to raise the voice during emergency interventions, speaking voice intensity (all p<0.05), and frequent coughing or throat clearing (p<0.001).Conclusion: Voice problems were common among emergency nurses. The findings suggest that self-reported voice problems might be linked to both occupational vocal demands and lifestyle characteristics. Voice health might therefore be considered part of occupational health practices for emergency nurses.

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