Voice actors: a study on voice and auditory symptoms

Objective: to identify and analyze voice and auditory symptoms in voice actors and to verify whether there is an association between voice symptoms and auditory symptoms and habits and working conditions.

Methods: Cross-sectional study approved by the institution´s Ethics Committee. An instrument composed of the following questionnaires was constructed in a virtual environment (Google Forms): Actor’s Vocal Production Conditions (CPV-A – 56 questions); Voice Disorder Screening Index (ITDV – 12 questions; score greater than or equal to 5 indicates presence of voice disorder) and Self-Reported Hearing Loss Questionnaire (SRHLQ – 3 questions). 55 voice actors responded to the instrument. Descriptive and inferential statistical analysis was performed to measure the association between the variables using Fisher’s exact test and Maentel-Haenszel and considered p<0.05.

Results: regarding gender, 27 men, 26 women, one transgender/non-binary person, and one unidentified person participated. 49.1% of the sample was between 31 and 40 years old and 42.6% had dubbing experience of 5 years or less. The ITDV scores indicated that 48 (82.3%) voice actors did not have symptoms suggestive of voice disorders, while 33 (56.4%) presented positive responses for SRHLQ. There was an association between voice habit variables (identified by CPV-A) and voice symptoms: positive ITDV x hoarseness (p=0.013), positive ITDV x feeling of a deep voice (p=0.044), positive ITDV x voice fatigue (p<0.001); and the association between the presence of self-reported hearing loss and habits such as use of energy drinks during work (p=0.045), low water intake (p=0.037) and feeling of hearing loss (p=0.003). When responses to the ITDV and SRLHQ were associated and responses to the CPV-A were used as stratification variables, the analysis indicated that the presence of throat clearing was associated with more responses suggestive of voice disorders in people who also tested positive on the SRLHQ.

Conclusions: voice symptoms were less frequent in the studied sample, while auditory symptoms appeared in a greater proportion in our sample. There was an association between a positive index for voice disorders and self-reported hearing loss and the presence of voice habits. Investigating auditory aspects of voice actors is fundamental in the multidimensional analysis of the voice.