Cualidades vocales de los locutores del Círculo de Periodistas Deportivos del Azuay, 2024-2025

Abstract

Background: The voice is an essential tool for the performance of announcers, since they use it for entertainment, narration, and advertising. Therefore, they have to face a high vocal demand for long time, and thus they are considered a target group that requires subjective and objective speech therapy evaluation. Objectives: To determine the vocal qualities of the announcers of the Sports Journalists' Association of Azuay, 2024-2025. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted. Sample: The universe comprised 65 announcers from the Sports Journalists Association of Azuay, in which a systematized (closed) survey and objective and subjective evaluation instruments were implemented. Data was tabulated using IBM SPSS 22. Results: Most of the 65 announcers were males (93.85%) and the most common age range was 46 to 55 years, which represented 40% of the sample. With the use of VHI speech and language therapy, the highest prevalence was mild (97%); GRBAS: most participants showed mild alterations in sections grade 69.23%; hoarseness, 58.46%; asthenia, 47.70%, and breathy voice, 60% in tense voice. 80% did not change, while 20% showed mild affectation. Pratt: abnormalities were identified, mainly in HNR (80%), followed by Jitter (43.08%), Shimmer (38.46%), NHR (32.31%), and fundamental frequency (13.85%). Conclusion: Research showed higher prevalence of voice misuse in male coaches and mild alteration in the vocal qualities of sports announcers. Expected results: Vocal cord dysfunction in the Sports Journalists' Association of Azuay.