Effects of Adventitious Acute Vocal Trauma: Relative Fundamental Frequency and Listener Perception

High voice users (individuals who demonstrate excessive or loud vocal use) are at risk for developing voice disorders. The objective of this study was to examine, both acoustically and perceptually, vocal changes in healthy speakers after an acute period of high voice use.

Members of a university women's volleyball team (n = 12) were recorded a week before (pre) and week after (post) the 10-week spring season; n = 6 control speakers were recorded over the same time period for comparison. Speakers read four sentences, which were analyzed for relative fundamental frequency (RFF). Eight naïve listeners participated in an auditory-perceptual visual sort and rate (VSR) task, in which they rated each voice sample's overall severity and strain.

No significant differences were found as a function of time point in the VSR ratings for the volleyball group. Onset cycle 1 RFF values were significantly lower (P = 0.04) in the postrecordings of the volleyball participants compared with prerecordings, but there was no significant difference (P = 0.20) in offset cycle 10 RFF values. Receiver operating characteristic analyses indicated moderate sensitivity and specificity of onset cycle 1 RFF for discrimination between the volleyball and control participants. Changes were not apparent in the control group as a function of time for either, onset cycle 1 RFF, offset cycle 10 RFF, or either vocal attribute.

Onset cycle 1 RFF may be an effective marker for detecting vocal changes over an acute high voice use period of time before perceptual changes are noted.