Voice disorders in opera singers, Tirana

Professional voice users often present to otolaryngologists with specific voice complaints.

The aim:- to examine the prevalence and incidence of laryngeal pathology among classical professional singers.

-to determine which handicaps are produced by a vocal problem and whether there are any relations to gender, age, vocal classification or total singing duration.

Method:

At the State Opera of Tirana, volunteers were recruited for a "free strobovideolaryngoscopic examination.“

Completed a specific de-tailed questionnaire of their vocal and medical history and the questionnaire of VHI.

rigid strobovideolaryngoscopic examination was performed.

Kay Pentax 70 ° rigid telescope

Strobovideolaryngoscopic examinations were completed in 104 volunteers:

29 of whom had voice complaints

75 of whom perceived their voices to be normal.

Results:

The prevalence of voice disorders among singers was 47%. The incidence rate of voice disorders was 5 new cases per 1,000 singers per year. Organic lesions were more prevalent in women (19.4%) than in men (5.4%).

Conclusions:

Vocal fold masses were common among the asymptomatic professional singers.

Asymmetries in vocal fold hypomobility were more common among those with voice complaints than was the presence of vocal fold masses in the population studied.

It was found that singers working more than 5 hours per day were 2.8 times more likely to have had a history of vocal disability in the year preceding the study.

Publication History

Publication Date:
23 April 2019 (online)