RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: The study aimed to explore the professional and recreational and/or personal voice use patterns and social representation of 'vocal hygiene' in two culturally and geographically diverse societies: India and Bhutan. METHODS: A total of 339 volunteers of Indian and Bhutanese nationality participated through snowball sampling. The responses were elicited using multiple-choice questions and a free association task. The data from the multiple-choice questions were analyzed using descriptive statistical methods. The free association task's responses underwent content and co-occurrence analysis to identify the most frequently occurring response categories. RESULTS: The professional voice use pattern differed between the two populations but not the recreational and/or personal voice use pattern. The results also revealed diverse social representations of 'vocal hygiene' in India and Bhutan. CONCLUSIONS: The present study sheds light on the voice use patterns and how the concept of vocal hygiene is represented in the two countries. These findings may have implications for developing and executing society specific awareness programs about vocal hygiene and its importance.
