The Association between Duration of Self-reported Voice Problems and Voice Disorders among Adults

주관적 음성문제 인지 기간과 병인학적 음성질환과의 관계

Studies on the risk factors of voice disorders in Korean adults are rare. I evaluated the association between the duration of self-reported voice problem and voice disorders in Korean adults. Data were from the 2008 Korea National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey. Subjects were 3,135 people (1,310 men and 1,825 women) aged 19 years and older. Multi-nominal logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between the duration of self-reported voice problem and voice disorders. The prevalence of self-reported voice problems was 5.9% among Korean adults. Adjusting for covariates (age, sex, education level, length of employment, tobacco consumption, alcohol consumption, thyroid disorders, pain and discomfort during the last two weeks), self-reported voice problems lasting longer than three weeks were independently associated with functional voice disorders (OR=5.30, 95% CI: 3.30-8.50) and organic voice disorders (OR=4.84, 95% CI: 1.82-12.89). Self-reported voice problems in the past three weeks were significantly associated with functional voice disorders (OR=3.64, 95% CI: 1.84-7.19), but not significantly associated with organic voice disorders. Self-reported voice problems are prevalent among adults. This study highlights that self-perception of a voice problem for more than three weeks is related to functional voice disorders and organic voice disorders.