Occupational and individual risk factors for dysphonia in teachers

In recent decades several groups of researchers have been interested in describing and understanding vocal morbidity in teachers in order to explain the large number of teachers diagnosed with dysphonia and account for the absenteeism attributed to vocal disability.

To determine the proportion of teachers who reported a diagnosis of dysphonia and measure associations between individual and contextual factors and the event of interest.

Teachers were recruited from the city of Belo Horizonte and invited to complete a web-based institutional intranet questionnaire.

In total, 649 teachers responded; 32% (CI 28.5-35.5) reported that they had received a physician diagnosis of dysphonia. This prevalence was significantly higher among female teachers (prevalence ratio (PR) 2.33; CI 1.41-3.85), and groups who reported limited technical resources and equipment (PR 1.56; CI 1.14-2.15), a diagnosis of gastritis (PR 1.59; CI 1.28-1.98), not being summoned for an annual physician examination (PR 0.47; CI 0.32-0.68), or absenteeism (PR 1.39; CI 1.06-1.81).

The high prevalence of dysphonia in teachers was not associated with any individual variables, except for sex and comorbidity (diagnosis of gastritis). Limited technical resources and equipment were associated with dysphonia and suggests policy change is important in preventing dysphonia.