Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.
Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, State University of New York at Plattsburgh, Plattsburgh, NY, USA.
Logoped Phoniatr Vocol. 2022 Jul;47(2):139-145. doi: 10.1080/14015439.2021.1897671. Epub 2021 Mar 18.
Fitness trainers and sporting coaches use their voices in acoustically poor conditions, for extended periods of time. Knowledge of the risk of voice problems in this cohort is emerging and has been documented in studies performed in Europe and Australia. This pilot study sought to identify the prevalence of voice problems of fitness trainers and sporting leaders in United States college towns.
An online questionnaire was distributed. The survey was based on the instrument developed by Rumbach (2013), "Vocal health of GFIs" (group fitness instructors (GFIs)) and adapted to account for the wider target population of this study. The survey included questions about participants' demographic information, as well as working conditions, including acoustic environment, leading requirements, equipment provision and maintenance and vocal diagnoses and symptoms. Questions on symptomatology included voice quality and physical symptoms (e.g. throat soreness). Recruitment took place between May and September 2018.
Sixty-two participants completed the survey. Three participants (5.08%) reported having received a formal diagnosis of dysphonia, yet many more reported vocal symptoms, including physical symptoms ( = 15, 24.19%) and voice disturbance ( = 8, 12.90%). Few participants had received vocal education ( = 5, 8.06%) and many thought this should be included in their formal training ( = 24, 38.71%).
In contrast to previous investigations, diagnosed voice disorders are less prevalent in this sample, based in US college towns. However, physical and vocal symptoms associated with voice overuse were common, suggesting that participants were unaware of their voice and the significance of the changes they reported.
健身教练和运动教练在声学条件差的环境中长时间使用他们的声音。在这一群体中，关于声音问题风险的知识正在出现，并在欧洲和澳大利亚进行的研究中有所记录。这项初步研究旨在确定美国大学城健身教练和运动领导者声音问题的流行率。
分发了在线问卷。该调查基于 Rumbach（2013 年）开发的工具，“GFI 的声音健康”（团体健身指导员（GFIs）），并进行了改编，以考虑到本研究更广泛的目标人群。该调查包括参与者的人口统计学信息以及工作条件，包括声学环境、领导要求、设备提供和维护以及声音诊断和症状。关于症状的问题包括声音质量和身体症状（例如喉咙疼痛）。招募工作于 2018 年 5 月至 9 月进行。
62 名参与者完成了调查。有 3 名参与者（5.08%）报告曾接受过正式的声音障碍诊断，但更多的人报告了声音症状，包括身体症状（ = 15，24.19%）和声音障碍（ = 8，12.90%）。很少有参与者接受过声音教育（ = 5，8.06%），许多人认为这应该包含在他们的正式培训中（ = 24，38.71%）。
与之前的调查相比，基于美国大学城的样本中，诊断出的声音障碍患病率较低。然而，与过度使用声音相关的身体和声音症状很常见，这表明参与者没有意识到自己的声音以及他们报告的变化的重要性。
