Academic Journal
Self-Perceived Vocal Symptoms and Discomfort in Amateur Church Singers.
| Title: | Self-Perceived Vocal Symptoms and Discomfort in Amateur Church Singers. |
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| Authors: | da Silva DM; Speech-Language Pathology Department, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo - UFES, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil., de Lacerda MM; Speech-Language Pathology Department, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo - UFES, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil., Depolli GT; Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Department, Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências, Universidade Estadual Paulista 'Júlio de Mesquita Filho' - Unesp, Marília, São Paulo, Brazil., Azevedo EHM; Speech-Language Pathology Department, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo - UFES, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil., Moreti F; Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology Department, Faculdade de Filosofia e Ciências, Universidade Estadual Paulista 'Júlio de Mesquita Filho' - Unesp, Marília, São Paulo, Brazil., Guimarães MF; Speech-Language Pathology Department, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo - UFES, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Electronic address: guima.michelle@gmail.com. |
| Source: | Journal of voice : official journal of the Voice Foundation [J Voice] 2026 Sep; Vol. 40 (5), pp. 1349-1355. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 May 04. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article; Comparative Study |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: Mosby Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 8712262 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-4588 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 08921997 NLM ISO Abbreviation: J Voice Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: 2003- : St. Louis, MO : Mosby Original Publication: [New York, N.Y.] : Raven Press, 1987- |
| MeSH Terms: | Voice Disorders*/physiopathology , Voice Disorders*/epidemiology , Voice Disorders*/diagnosis , Voice Disorders*/psychology , Occupational Diseases*/physiopathology , Occupational Diseases*/diagnosis , Occupational Diseases*/epidemiology , Occupational Diseases*/psychology , Singing* , Voice Quality* , Protestantism*, Humans ; Female ; Adult ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Young Adult ; Middle Aged ; Adolescent ; Male ; Prevalence ; Symptom Burden ; Sex Factors |
| Abstract: | Purpose: To analyze self-perceived vocal symptoms and discomfort in amateur church singers and compare them between genders and church types. Methods: It was a quantitative cross-sectional study involving 99 amateur church singers aged between 18 and 59years. Data collection was carried out through the completion of a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Voice Symptom Scale (VoiSS), and the Vocal Tract Discomfort Scale (VTDS). The Mann-Whitney test was used for comparisons, and Spearman's correlation test was used for analyzing correlations between scale scores. The adopted significance level was 5% (P < 0.05). Results: There was a prevalence of females (71.7%), amateur singers from Protestant churches (73.7%), with a mean age of 27.5years. The average VoiSS total score was 22.6 points, the "limitation" domain was 12.3, the "emotional" domain was 2.55, and the "physical" domain was 7.7. The most self-perceived sensations in the VTDS were "dryness," "sore throat," and "itchiness" with mild to moderate intensity. There was a statistically significant difference between genders (P < 0.05) and a positive correlation from weak (r = 0.212) to strong magnitude (r = 0.660) between vocal symptoms and vocal tract discomfort. There was no statistically significant difference between types of churches. Conclusion: Amateur singers self-report high levels of vocal symptoms, which impact limitation, emotional, and physical domains. Furthermore, they experience vocal tract discomfort sensations, with dryness being the most frequently reported, followed by sore throat and itching. No significant differences were found between the scale scores and church types. However, females reported a greater frequency and intensity of vocal tract discomfort sensations. The greater the self-reported vocal symptoms in this population, the higher their self-reported frequency and intensity of vocal tract discomfort sensations. These findings underscore the importance of addressing vocal health issues in amateur singers to enhance their overall well-being. (Copyright © 2024 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Music; Signs and symptoms; Singing; Voice; Voice quality |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20240505 Date Completed: 20260907 Latest Revision: 20260907 |
| Update Code: | 20260908 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jvoice.2024.03.028 |
| PMID: | 38705738 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1873-4588 |
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| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jvoice.2024.03.028 |