title: Occupational risks for voice disorders: Evidence from a Korea national cross-sectional survey.
abstract: This study aims to analyze the relationship between occupation and voice disorders using a national cross-sectional survey that represents the Korean population. Subjects were 5,407 members of the non-institutionalized population aged 19-59 (2,258 men, 3,149 women) who completed the laryngeal examination of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2010-2012. Voice disorders were surveyed by classifying laryngeal pathologies and self-reported voice problems. Occupations were classified into 'managers & professionals', 'clerical support workers', 'service & sales workers', 'skilled agricultural & forestry & fishery workers', 'craft & plant and machine operators and assemblers', and 'unskilled laborers', based on the sixth Korean Standard Classification of Occupations. The results of the multinomial logistic regression analysis indicated that managers & professionals were 1.4 times (OR 1.42, 95% CI 1.01-2.01) more likely to have self-reported voice problems, and service & sales workers were 1.6 times (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.14-2.30) more likely to have self-reported voice problems than economically inactive people (P < 0.05). Still, there was no significant association between the presence of laryngeal pathology and profession. Managers & professionals and service & sales workers may have a higher risk of voice problems than the economically inactive.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Speech Language Pathology & Audiology , Nambu University , Gwangju , Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Haewon
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Byeon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007587:Job Description; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016272:Occupational Health; D009790:Occupations / Q000145:classification*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D014832:Voice Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Dysphonia; occupation; risk factor; voice disorder; voice problem