Vocal hygiene in future professional voice users and in professional voice users.

In this study 27 future professional voice users (i.e. radio students) and 53 professional voice users (i.e. radio professionals) were questioned on their vocal hygiene. Both groups differed clearly in age and in radio experience. The mean age of the radio students was 22 years, whereas the mean age of the radio professionals was 41 years; radio students had no radio experience and radio professional's experience ranged from 2 to 32 years.
This study shows that the vocal hygiene of radio professionals is not superior to the vocal hygiene of radio students. On the contrary, every group has a distinctive vocal hygiene profile. The intake of coffee is significantly higher in radio professionals (pThis study demonstrates the necessity of an adapted vocal hygiene education program for both future and professional voice users, as they seem to underestimate the negative implications of bad vocal hygiene.