Introduction: The purpose was to determine the incidence of voice disorders in a group of professional actors and singers, to compare the two groups, and to investigate the potential causes of their voice problems.
Methods: 65 actors and 63 singers from professional theatres and choirs were included. The data concerning voice problems, their possible causes, and factors adversely affecting voice quality were obtained through a questionnaire. The results were compared between the groups of professional singers and actors, and between the subgroups of singers and actors both with and without frequent voice problems.
Results: The incidence of frequent voice problems over the entire career in singers and actors was lower than reported in the literature. Professional actors displayed more inappropriate life and vocal habits than the singers. Significant risk factors for voice disorders in singers turned out to be loud speech (p=0.029) and the presence of allergies or asthma (p=0.048). No such significant risk factors were found in actors.
Conslusion: The study confirmed the importance of preventive examination of the vocal tract function before enrolling in studies for an elite voice user. Professional singers and especially actors demonstrated insufficient knowledge of proper voice care. The results suggest that elite voice users require additional information on voice hygiene and occasional professional help from college to the end of career. Speech and language therapists can play a crucial role in such voice care in order to effectively prevent voice problems in elite voice users.
Uvod: Namen raziskave je bil ugotoviti, kako pogosto se pojavljajo glasovne težave v skupini poklicnih igralcev in pevcev, raziskovali smo tudi potencialne vzroke zanje.
Metode: Vključili smo 65 poklicnih igralcev in 63 poklicnih pevcev iz profesionalnih gledališč oziroma pevskih zborov in od njih s pomočjo anonimnega vprašalnika dobili podatke o glasovnih težavah in morebitnih vzrokih zanje. Primerjali smo skupini pevcev in igralcev ter podskupini poklicnih pevcev oziroma igralcev s pogostimi glasovnimi težavami in brez njih.
Rezultati: Pojavnost pogostih glasovnih težav v celotni karieri je bila pri pevcih in igralcih nižja kot v drugih podobnih raziskavah. Izkazalo se je, da imajo poklicni igralci pomembno več neprimernih govornih navad ter negativnih dejavnikov za glas kot poklicni pevci. Kot pomembna rizična dejavnika za pogoste glasovne težave sta se pri pevcih izkazala glasen govor (p = 0,029) in prisotnost alergij (p = 0,048). Pri igralcih nismo našli nobenega pomembnega dejavnika tveganja za glasovne težave.
Zaključek: Rezultati raziskave so potrdili pomen preventivnega pregleda funkcije vokalnega trakta pred začetkom študija za poklic elitnega uporabnika glasu. Poklicni pevci in še posebno poklicni igralci so pokazali preslabo poznavanje skrbi za glas. Rezultati raziskave kažejo, da bi tako poklicni pevci kot igralci tudi v času študija in svoje poklicne poti potrebovali dodatne informacije o skrbi za glas ter občasne usmerjene preglede. Prav logoped bi lahko imel ključno vlogo v vseživljenjski skrbi za glas in preprečevanje glasovnih težav pri elitnih glasovnih uporabnikih.
Keywords: risk factors; voice disorders; voice quality.
© 2020 Nataša Prebil et al., published by Sciendo.