Prevalence and Risk Factors of Benign Laryngeal Lesions in the Adult Population

Byeon, Haewon; Lee, Yunhwan

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2010;15(4): 648-656.

Haewon Byeon^` , and Yunhwan Lee^`

변해원(Haewon Byeon)|이윤환(Yunhwan Lee)

ABSTRACT

Background & Objectives
Studies on the prevalence and risk factors of voice disorders in Korean adults are rare. The purpose of the present study was to analyze the prevalence of benign laryngeal lesions and to identify variables associated with increased risk of benign laryngeal lesions.
Methods
Data were taken from the 4th Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (2008). Subjects consisted of 3,141 people aged 19 years and older. Potential factors associated with benign laryngeal lesions were analyzed using chi-square tests and multiple logistic regression.
Results
The prevalence of benign laryngeal lesions was 2.5% in the adult population. In the logistic regression analysis, being a manual worker was inversely associated with benign laryngeal lesions (OR=0.40, 95% CI: 0.21, 0.75). Subjective voice problems in the past 3 weeks (OR=4.44 95% CI: 1.85-10.66) and for more than 3 weeks (OR=9.00, 95% CI: 5.34-15.18), currently smoking (OR=1.82, 95% CI: 1.13-2.93), and frequent alcohol consumption (OR=2.08, 95% CI:1.07-4.01) were significantly associated with benign laryngeal lesions. Adjusting for covariates, being a manual worker, having subjective voice problems, and frequent alcohol consumption were independently associated with benign laryngeal lesions.
Discussion & Conclusion
Benign laryngeal lesions are prevalent among adults. The findings of associated factors suggest potential ways of targeting counseling and prevention efforts to control benign laryngeal lesions.