Multidimensional voice assessment: the immediate effects of Lax Vox^® in singers with voice complaints

ABSTRACT

Purpose:

to multidimensionally assess the effect of the Lax Vox^® vocal technique on singers with voice complaints.

Methods:

a comparative intrasubject study that assessed 30 singers - 13 males and 17 females, aged 18 to 55 years - who self-reported voice complaints and had voice problems symptoms. The participants were submitted to voice assessment with perceptive-auditory, acoustic, aerodynamic, and electroglottographic voice analysis, as well as laryngeal assessment with high-speed videolaryngoscopy. The participants were assessed at two moments: 1) at the beginning of the data collection; and 2) five minutes after performing the Lax Vox^® vocal technique. The groups were compared with appropriate statistical tests, with a 5% significance level.

Results:

in the acoustic analysis, there was an increase in the fundamental frequency for males, after using the Lax Vox^® vocal technique. In the aerodynamic assessment, there was an increase in the airflow mean values during vocalization, as well as in aerodynamic power after using the Lax Vox^® vocal technique in both groups.

Conclusion:

the Lax Vox^® vocal technique, in the studied singers with a complaint of dysphonia, promoted an increase in the fundamental frequency, for males. In the aerodynamic parameters, in both sexes, it promoted an increase in the airflow and aerodynamic power.

Keywords:
Voice; Dysphonia; Singing; Voice Disorders; Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences