Singing voice handicap mapped by different self-assessment instruments.

Area of Science:

• Vocal Health
• Singing Voice Assessment
• Self-Perception of Voice Handicap

Background:

• Vocal handicap significantly impacts singers' professional and personal lives.
• Accurate assessment tools are crucial for understanding and managing vocal complaints in singers.
• Existing general voice handicap questionnaires may not fully capture the nuances of singing voice demands.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and compare the efficacy of a general voice handicap questionnaire (VHI) against two singing-specific voice handicap questionnaires (S-VHI and MSVH) in popular singers.
• To determine the most suitable instrument for assessing vocal handicap in this population.
• To explore factors influencing perceived vocal handicap, including vocal complaint history, gender, singing style, and experience.

Main Methods:

• Fifty popular singers (25 male, 25 female) with and without vocal complaints participated.
• Participants completed the Voice Handicap Index (VHI), Singing Voice Handicap Index (S-VHI), and Music Voice Symptom Handicap Inventory (MSVH) questionnaires.
• Statistical analyses included Mann-Whitney, Friedman, Wilcoxon, Spearman, and Correlation tests to compare data and assess relationships.

Main Results:

• The S-VHI and MSVH demonstrated significantly higher handicap scores compared to the VHI, indicating greater sensitivity to singers' vocal issues (p=0.001 for VHI vs. S-VHI; p=0.004 for VHI vs. MSVH).
• S-VHI and MSVH yielded comparable results (p=0.723), suggesting they measure similar aspects of singing voice handicap.
• Singers with vocal complaints reported higher scores on all questionnaires compared to those without complaints.
• A weak negative correlation was observed between perceived vocal handicap and years of singing experience, implying that more experience may lead to a lesser perceived handicap.

Conclusions:

• Singing-specific questionnaires (S-VHI and MSVH) are more effective than the general VHI for assessing vocal handicap in singers.
• The S-VHI and MSVH are reliable and correspondent instruments for evaluating singers' perceived vocal handicap.
• Vocal experience plays a role in mitigating perceived vocal handicap, while gender and singing style do not significantly influence it.