Absenteísmo por distúrbios da voz em professores: revisão da literatura, 2005-2015

Abstract

Objective: To identify results in the literature concerning absences practiced by teachers which were assigned to voice disorders and associated factors. Methods: Literature review of scientific articles in Portuguese, English and Spanish (2005-2015). Results: 15 cross-sectional and quantitative articles were found which were carried out in Latin America, Europe, Asia and North America who used as main data collection instrument the self-filling questionnaire. In addition to absences from work the authors examined the prevalence of voice disorders among teachers and their relation with social, economic and health aspects. The frequency of work-related absences for voice disorders ranged from 3.5% to 63%. The factors associated with these faults were: female gender, vocal complaint during professional training, having witnessed episodes of classroom violence, depression or anxiety, respiratory problems, impact and severity of voice disorders in teacher quality of life. Conclusion: There is a considerable increase in scientific publications on the subject, but there are still gaps in prevalence and associated factors. The large variation in the frequency of work-related absences due to voice disorders found in the studies may be related to the methodology used (reference period) to investigate it. Searching for consensus on the research protocol will allow the comparison of the results. Socio-demographic, health and work-related factors associated with lack of work due to voice show the complexity of the event studied and allow the identification of elements for the elaboration of preventive actions aimed at the health of teachers.