Drama students with and without vocal complaint: Vocal health and hygiene data, symptoms and voice handicap

Abstract

Purpose: To gather information about vocal health and hygiene, voice symptoms, and voice handicap from drama students with and without vocal complaints. Methods: A total of 57 drama students participated of this study. They were divided into two groups: no vocal complaints group (NCG), with 39 students; and with vocal complaints group (WCG), with 18 students. The participants answered to three self-assessment protocols: 1. Vocal Health and Hygiene Questionnaire (VHHQ), 2. Voice Symptom Scale (VoiSS); and 3. Voice Handicap Index (VHI-10). Results: No difference was observed between groups related to the knowledge of vocal health and hygiene. The drama students from the WCG presented higher scores, more voice symptoms in all subscales of the VoiSS, and more voice handicap, e.g,higher VHI-10 scores than the NCG. The more knowledge on vocal health and hygiene (VHHQ total score) was followed by less voice symptoms, which represents lower scores in the VoiSS total score and, in emotional domain, and it was only perceived voice handicap (VHI-10 total score) in the NCG. Conclusion: There was no difference in knowledge of vocal health and hygiene among drama students with and without vocal complaints. However, drama students with vocal complaints presented more voice symptoms and reported greater perception of voice handicap, which was negatively correlated with knowledge of vocal health and hygiene.