Effect of Vocal Function Exercises on the Voice Quality of Healthy Adults

Abstract

Objective: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of Vocal Function Exercises (VFE) on voice physiology in healthy adult individuals.

Introduction: Studies aiming to improve voice quality in adults with healthy voices are quite limited. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of physiological voice therapy in adults with healthy vocal function.

Methods: This experimental study was conducted with 60 participants who exhibited no signs of voice disorders. VFE was administered by the principal investigator twice a week for a duration of 6 weeks, with each session lasting approximately two hours. The efficacy of the intervention was evaluated through acoustic analysis and auditory-perceptual assessments. The normality of data distribution was assessed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. For data showing a normal distribution, the Paired Samples t-test was employed; for non-normally distributed data, the Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was used. A significance level of p<0.05 was adopted for statistical analyses.

Results: A comparative analysis of pre- and post-intervention acoustic parameters and Voice Handicap Index (SHI) scores revealed statistically significant improvements in both sets of measures, indicating a positive effect of the exercises on vocal function.

Conclusion: Vocal Function Exercises represent a voice therapy technique that exerts a direct physiological impact on vocal mechanisms and is typically applied in populations with voice disorders. However, the findings of this study demonstrate that VFE is also effective in enhancing vocal quality in healthy adult individuals.