title: Absenteeism due to voice disorders in female teachers: a public health problem.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study estimates the prevalence of absenteeism due to voice disorders among teachers and investigates individual and contextual factors associated with it.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved 1,980 teachers from 76 municipal schools. The response rate was 85%. The survey was carried out between May 2004 and July 2005 using a self-administered structured questionnaire containing sociodemographic, lifestyle, health, and work-related questions. The dependent variable was obtained from answers to the following question: In the last 2 weeks, have you missed work because of voice problems? Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the associated factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Voice-related absenteeism in the prior 2 weeks was reported by 66 teachers (3.35%). During their entire careers, approximately one-third of teachers missed work at least once due to voice problems. In the final model, factors associated with recent absenteeism were as follows: witnessing violence by students or parents one or more times (OR = 2.10; 95% CI = 1.14-3.90), presence of depression or anxiety (OR = 2.03; 95% CI = 1.09-3.78), upper respiratory problems in the prior 2 weeks (OR = 2.85; 95% CI = 1.53-5.29), and absenteeism because of voice problems during the preceding 6 months (OR = 15.79; 95% CI = 8.18-30.45).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results encourage new approaches to the problems of absenteeism in the educational sector and contribute to addressing the weaknesses of economic and administrative approaches to the phenomenon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Federal University of Minas Gerais, UFMG, Av. Alfredo Balena, 190/705, Belo Horizonte, MG, 30310-100, Brazil. adrianemmedeiros@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Adriane Mesquita
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: de Medeiros
authors.forename: Ada Ávila
authors.initials: AÁ
authors.lastname: Assunção
authors.forename: Sandhi Maria
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Barreto
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching; D014754:Violence; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult