Vocal Function Differences Before and After Sorority Recruitment

Abstract

Participation in sorority recruitment often results in acute vocal impairment. The purpose of this investigation was to characterize the extent to which voice function and laryngeal appearance may be altered by participation in this social phenomenon. Using a within-participant repeated measures design, nine women participating as sorority recruiters completed the study protocol. The following data were collected at two time points, immediately before and after the completion of two weeks of sorority recruitment: stroboscopic laryngeal imaging, vocal acoustic measures, and perceptual measures of vocal effort and voice quality. Perceived phonatory effort and overall severity of voice quality were significantly impaired following sorority recruitment. All participants had evidence of mucosal changes in the form of one or more the following: observed edema, erythema, increased vascularity, glottic margin changes. No significant differences in acoustic measures were identified. Increased perceived vocal effort, increased overall severity ratings of voice quality, and deleterious vocal fold tissue changes observed support the hypothesis that the acute vocal loading that is characteristic of the sorority recruitment process contributes to a decline in voice function in the short term. Acoustic measures taken either lacked the sensitivity for the perceived decline in voice function or the participants, who were otherwise healthy, managed to adapt the acoustic signal to the tissue changes observed. The extent to which these acute changes may be mitigated with vocal hygiene and voice training is an area for future study.