Journal of Speech Pathology & Therapy
Open Access

Research Article

The Prevalence of Voice Problems in a Sample of Collegiate a Cappella Singers

Professor, Davies School of Communication Sciences & Disorders, West Cantey, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

^*Corresponding Author:

Christopher R. Watts
Professor, Davies School of Communication Sciences & Disorders
West Cantey, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Tel: 817-257-7620
E-mail: c.watts@tcu.edu

Received date: January 18, 2016; Accepted date: February 22, 2016; Published date: February 27, 2016

Citation: Watts CR (2016) The Prevalence of Voice Problems in a Sample of Collegiate a Cappella Singers. J Speech Pathol Ther 1:105. doi: 10.4172/2472-5005.1000105

Copyright: © 2016 Watts CR, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

A large number of collegiate a cappella singing groups exist on college campuses across the United States. The purpose of this study was to collect preliminary data on the frequency of reported voice problems among a sample of collegiate a cappella singers and associated demographic characteristics. Information was obtained from 72 collegiate a cappella singers from a single academic campus using a survey instrument. Results demonstrated a past or present voice problem prevalence of 36% within the sample. The data suggest that collegiate a cappella singers are at a high risk for voice problems, with a small subset manifesting a past history of benign vocal fold lesions. The information reported in this study may be of clinical relevance to vocal health professionals who treat individuals from this population.

Keywords