Level of physiological, anatomical and pathological knowledge of the singing voice on the part of professional and amateur singers

ABSTRACT Purpose: the knowledge concerning care of the voice on the part of professional and amateur singers in Chile is relevant for voice professionals and also for speech pathologists who work in disorder prevention and voice care. It is important to know if there are differences between both groups regarding the knowledge of voice care. Methods: the "Vocal Awareness Questionnaire for Singers'' was applied to a sample of 66 singers: 33 professional and 33 amateur singers. Three areas of knowledge were evaluated: anatomy and physiology of the larynx, vocal hygiene and voice pathologies. Results: there were no significant differences in the knowledge of voice care between professional and amateur singers both at a general level and in specific areas of knowledge. The topic of vocal hygiene obtained the highest percentage of correct answers in both groups, while the lowest percentage was in the area of voice pathologies. Conclusions: there were no differences in the level of knowledge on voice care between the professional and amateur singers included in this study. In both groups, the level of knowledge was from low to moderate. This could increase the incidence of vocal pathologies in both groups.