Introduction: Fitness trainers and sporting coaches use their voices in acoustically poor conditions, for extended periods of time. Knowledge of the risk of voice problems in this cohort is emerging and has been documented in studies performed in Europe and Australia. This pilot study sought to identify the prevalence of voice problems of fitness trainers and sporting leaders in United States college towns.
Materials and methods: An online questionnaire was distributed. The survey was based on the instrument developed by Rumbach (2013), "Vocal health of GFIs" (group fitness instructors (GFIs)) and adapted to account for the wider target population of this study. The survey included questions about participants' demographic information, as well as working conditions, including acoustic environment, leading requirements, equipment provision and maintenance and vocal diagnoses and symptoms. Questions on symptomatology included voice quality and physical symptoms (e.g. throat soreness). Recruitment took place between May and September 2018.
Results: Sixty-two participants completed the survey. Three participants (5.08%) reported having received a formal diagnosis of dysphonia, yet many more reported vocal symptoms, including physical symptoms (n = 15, 24.19%) and voice disturbance (n = 8, 12.90%). Few participants had received vocal education (n = 5, 8.06%) and many thought this should be included in their formal training (n = 24, 38.71%).
Conclusions: In contrast to previous investigations, diagnosed voice disorders are less prevalent in this sample, based in US college towns. However, physical and vocal symptoms associated with voice overuse were common, suggesting that participants were unaware of their voice and the significance of the changes they reported.
Keywords: Voice; dysphonia; fitness; occupational voice use; sport; yoga.