Assessment of vocal capacity of Finnish university students.

This article summarizes the results for a total of 189 female and 63 male university students (mean age 23 and 26 years, respectively) from the following vocal capacity tests: measurement of (1) vital capacity, (2) average airflow in phonation (on [o:]), (3) maximum duration of sustained blowing, (4) maximum phonation time (on [o:, z:]), (5) maximum duration of [s:], (6) the ratio of the duration of [s:] to [z:] (s/z ratio), (7) phonation quotient (the ratio between vital capacity and maximum phonation time), (8) the lowest possible tone, (9) mean fundamental frequency (F0) in normal and loud text reading and in shouting, (10) difference between the lowest tone and mean F0 in text reading and in shouting, (11) F0 range in text reading, (12) equivalent sound level of normal and loud reading and of shouting in maximum loudness, (13) phonetogram (voice range profile) and (14) long-term average spectrum of text reading. Voice quality is also evaluated perceptually, and additionally, data on subjects' self-reported vocal fatigue symptoms in general or after a vocally loading task were collected. The value of these measurements from the point of view of assessment of vocal capacity will be discussed. Copyright 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel.