Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria in Healthy Occupational Voice Users in Human Research: A Scoping Review

The purpose of this scoping review was to determine the inclusion and exclusion criteria typically used for human participants when conducting occupational vocal function research.

A scoping review was performed using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines searching PubMed/MEDLINE (Ovid), APA PsychInfo, and Web of Science with a cover period between January 1, 2018 and September 15, 2023. Studies performed on human participants and published in English were included in this study. In addition, studies were required to use human participants (all ages and sexes) who were occupational voice users. Articles using the following study designs were included: experimental (randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental) and nonexperimental (observational, cross-sectional). Review articles, case reports, editorials, meta-analysis, and opinion pieces were excluded from review, as well as studies that included participants with head and neck cancer.

A total of 71 studies were included in this scoping review. Data extraction and analysis revealed that variables of sex and vocal health were consistently accounted for in research; however, inclusion/exclusion variables such as gender, hydration, and medication use were rarely included.

This scoping review highlights the need to consider more expansive inclusion/exclusion criteria as relates to factors that could impact objective measures of vocal function. Moreover, developing consistent inclusion and exclusion criteria across studies may help clinicians generalize findings to clinical populations.