Summary
Objectives
Professional singers often are described as vocal athletes, and just as professional
athletes get injured, injuries to professional singers can occur during practice and
performances. In other fields of medicine, research has shown that competitive sports
athletes recover more quickly after orthopedic surgical procedures compared to non-athletes.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether similar differences occur with
voice patients by comparing voice surgical outcomes between professional singers and
non-singers.
Methods
A retrospective cohort study was conducted that included a consecutive sample of 194
adult subjects who underwent voice surgical procedures in the operating room. All
surgeries were performed by the same surgeon, the senior author of this study (RTS).
Data were reviewed for patients with medical records between January 1, 2010 to February
1, 2022. Subjects who reported receiving income from singing or reported studying
voice at a collegiate level or higher were classified as professional singers. Subjects
reporting careers in all other professions, including unpaid avocational singers or
singers without formal training, were assigned to the non-singer control group. The
data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software. Statistical significance was determined
using independent samples t test for continuous variables and Fisher's exact test or binary logistic regression
for binary outcomes.
Results
There were 194 subjects included in this study (43.81% male/56.19% female). The average
age was 42.60 ± 15.17. Ninety subjects were professional singers and 104 were non-singers.
Revision of surgical plan was significantly different for professional singers compared
to non-singers (14.44% versus 0%, P < 0.001). The rate of postoperative complications did not differ significantly between
the singer and non-singer groups, even when adjusting for other factors. Professional
singers presented with slightly more severe vocal fold hemorrhages on the first postoperative
visit compared to non-singers (1.73 ± 0.73 versus 1.32 ± 0.65, P = 0.003), but there was no difference by the second visit. Following surgery, professional
singers adhered to a longer duration of voice rest. However, both groups participated
equally in voice therapy postoperatively.
Conclusions
No differences were found in operative complications between professional singers
and non-singers. This study describes outcomes and considerations in patient care
for professional singers. It also provides insight into potentially modifiable factors,
such as voice rest, that could impact patient care postoperatively.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 04, 2023
Accepted:
December 22,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 The Voice Foundation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
