A survey of vocal health in church choir singers

Abstract

Purpose Choir singing is an important tradition of Christian worship across India. However, vocal health issues related to the church choir singers are less addressed in the literature. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of vocal symptoms, identify the variables associated with increased risk of voice problems and knowledge of factors influencing vocal health in church choir singers. Method One hundred and forty-eight church choir singers (61 males and 85 females) between the age range of 18 and 70 years participated in the study. They completed a self-reported questionnaire addressing demographic and singing-related details, vocal symptoms, variables associated with increased risk reporting voice problems and knowledge about factors influencing vocal health. Result Eighty-four percent of the choir singers reported two or more vocal symptoms sometimes or more frequently while or after singing. More than half of the church choir singers had experienced vocal symptoms such as accessing notes in the upper range, loss of vocal endurance, pitch breaks, hoarseness, dryness in the throat, and discomfort in the throat. Among the different variables, systemic hydration found to have a significant association with reporting of voice problems in church choir singers. The overall knowledge regarding the factors influencing vocal health was found to be limited among the choir singers. Conclusion Choir singers like other professional singers experienced a higher prevalence of vocal symptoms during or after singing and exhibited limited knowledge about factors that negatively influence vocal health. Hence, there is a need to look into these singer’s vocal requirements, who usually go unnoticed.

Voice Quality of Choir Singers and the Effect of a Performance on the Voice

“…The prevalence of voice disorders in choir singers seems similar to that of teacher students and teachers (Ravall & Simberg, 2020). They frequently report vocal symptoms such as throat clearing, globus sensation or pain, a strained or tired voice, and hoarseness (Ravall & Simberg, 2020;Sharma et al, 2021). A recent study of Robotti et al (2021) showed higher self-reported voice and vocal tract impairments in amateur choir singers compared to control subjects.…”

“…Due to high vocal demands, often combined with limited vocal knowledge and training, choristers are at risk for voice impairments (Braun-Janzen & Zeine, 2009;Reddy et al, 2014;Rosa & Behlau, 2017;Ravall & Simberg, 2020;Sharma et al, 2021;Robotti et al, 2021). This risk was visible in the PROMs with mean deviant scores on the SVHI-10 (14/40), VTDS (26/96) and VFI (21/96).…”

“…Despite these high vocal demands, choir singers often did not receive formal singing training and have limited vocal knowledge (Braun-Janzen & Zeine, 2009;Reddy et al, 2014;Rosa & Behlau, 2017;Ravall & Simberg, 2020;Sharma et al, 2021). Consequently, amateur choristers are at higher risk for developing voice disorders, especially female singers and those with a vocally demanding occupation (Rosa & Behlau, 2017;Ravall & Simberg, 2020).…”

“…Preferred duration of vocal warm-up is estimated between 5 and 15 minutes (Gish et al, 2012;Onofre et al, 2017;Ragsdale et al, 2020;Saldías et al, 2020). Nonetheless the proven advantages, there seems to be a general lack of vocal warm-up in the majority of choir singers (Zoramsiami, 2014;Sharma et al, 2021). If they do warm-up, then it is mostly limited to singing musical notes or a song before the performance (Zoramsiami, 2014;Ravi et al, 2019), instead of using more specific warm-ups, such as semi-occluded vocal tract (SOVT) exercises.…”

“…Therefore, the first objective of this study was to determine the voice quality, capacities, symptoms and voice-related quality of life of choir singers. Based on the available literature, it can be hypothesized that the choir singers will show excellent voice quality and capacities (Siupsinskiene & Lycke, 2011;Berghs et al, 2013;Reddy et al, 2014;Irzaldy et al, 2016;Ravi et al, 2019), although symptoms might be frequent and the voice related quality of life might be considerably low (Braun-Janzen & Zeine, 2009;Reddy et al, 2014;Rosa & Behlau, 2017;Ravall & Simberg, 2020;Sharma et al, 2021;Robotti et al, 2021).…”