Association between Occupation and Self-Reported Voice Problems in the General Population

Byeon, Haewon

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Commun Sci Disord. 2011;16(3): 360-371.

Haewon Byeon^`

변해원(Haewon Byeon)

ABSTRACT

Background & Objectives
Considering the numerous studies on subjective voice complaints among professional voice users, it is clear that subjective voice complaints are currently quite common. The purpose of the present cross-sectional study was to determine the association between occupation and self-reported voice problems in the South Korean adult population using national-survey data.
Methods
Data were drawn from the 2009 Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey. The subjects were 4,601 persons (1,988 male; 2,613 female) aged 19-60 in South Korea. Occupation was defined based on the International Standard Classification of Occupations. The data were analyzed using t test, ANOVA, and multiple logistic regression analysis.
Results
The prevalence of self-reported voice problems was 6.0%. In the logistic-regression analyses of the association between occupation and self-reported voice problems, non-manual workers were found to be independently associated with self-reported voice problems (OR=1.67, 95% CI: 1.23-2.26), but the opposite was true for manual workers. Adjusting for covariates, professionals (OR=3.51, 95% CI: 1.34-9.19) and service workers (OR=2.68, 95% CI: 1.02-7.06) were found to be independently associated with self-reported voice problems. Discussion & Conclusions: The study findings suggest that non-manual workers, particularly professionals and service workers, are at a higher risk of developing voice problems compared to other occupations.