Beauty and Attractiveness in the Human Voice.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the difference between vocal beauty and vocal attractiveness by determining whether perceptual ratings of vocal beauty and vocal attractiveness could be dissociated in a cohort of normal raters without a diagnosed sexual desire disorder.

Methods: Twenty five gay male participants were presented with randomly-chosen samples from the Geneva Voices and Faces Database, and were asked to rate each sample in terms of beauty, attractiveness for a relationship of short duration, and attractiveness for a relationship of long duration. Responses were recorded on a visual analog scale (0-100) using a touch-screen interface.

Comparative analysis of clinical profile: Chronic cough vs paradoxical vocal fold motion.

Background: Ongoing contention surrounding typical demographic and clinical attributes of chronic cough (CC) and paradoxical vocal fold motion (PVFM) impedes timely diagnosis and optimum patient care. Designed to reduce preventable patient morbidity through improved recognition and differentiation, the current study aimed to determine representative clinical profiles for CC and PVFM, with identification of distinctive attributes from the general population and risk factors associated with each diagnosis.

Methods: Self-reported medical questionnaires, demographic and lifestyle attributes of CC and PVFM cases from a disease-specific outcomes database were compared to US population data and published normative values.

Bilateral vocal fold chondromas.

Laryngeal chondromas are uncommon, benign, slow-growing neoplasms with few reports in the literature. Vocal fold chondromas are even more rare, and all reported cases are unilateral. Here, we present the first case of bilateral vocal fold chondromas.

Health information-seeking behaviors among classically trained singers.

Understanding health information-seeking behaviors (HISBs) within a particular patient demographic group is an important part of effective clinical outreach and education efforts. Although the community of classically trained singers has long been recognized by specialized health care providers, no studies have yet addressed the processes by which they search for voice-related health information, and little is known about how they use and access medical care. An electronic questionnaire focusing on HISB and voice-related health care issues was administered to 151 self-identified classically trained singers and 49 nonsinger controls.