ABSTRACT
Purpose:
to identify and to compare voice patterns related to professional exercise, voice usage, habits and voice care, health habits and work environment conditions of actors and drama students.
Methods:
60 subjects, both male and female, divided in 2 groups: Professional group - professional drama actors, and Students group - drama students without professional experience. Both groups answered to a questionnaire about professional practice, voice, vocal habits, health, environment conditions, and voice care.
Results:
professional group subjects had higher occurrence than the students in the following aspects: roughness, professional voice use during cold/flu episodes, while improper body posture and breathing, shouting/yelling, and standing in places having mold or little ventilation, dust and closed, also rehearsing in other places that not the theater. Students reported drinking more cold beverages than professional actors. The number of subjects performing vocal warm up and not having difficulty during scenes is higher in Professional group than students. The type of vocal warm up significantly more used by Professional group was the sound /s/ using diaphragmatic breathing, vocal fry and vowels.
Conclusion:
both groups have harmful habits and are exposed to improper work environment to voice health. These data point out the need of voice health actions in order to minimize the risk of voice disorders in professionals and to prepare students to increasing voice load.
Keywords:
Art; Health Evaluation; Occupational Health; Voice
