Perfil dos beneficiários do INSS em auxílio-doença por distúrbios benignos da voz

t: It is estimated that one third of jobs has voice as an essential work tool. Individual factors associated with high vocal demand and inadequate working conditions predispose to laryngopathies. Diseases with good prognosis become chronic and cause prolonged absences with damage to workers, companies and social security. Objectives: To know the profile of the social security recipients due to benign voice disorders; to identify the most prevalent diseases and the average time of disability; to inestigate the link between disease and professional activity; and to know the percentage of workers who need to be rehabilitated. Methods: This is a quantitative retrospective study of the disability benefits initiated between January 2005 and December 2009 in Fortaleza. Results: 369 benefits were studied, 91% of them were females and 88,8% were voice professionals. There was a predominance of teachers (59.1%) and telemarketing operators (24.7%). The most prevalent diagnoses were: nodules (46.6%), laryngopharyngeal reflux (27.1%), functional dysphonia (11.7%), cyst (7.9%), sulcus (6.5%) and polyp (6.5%). The duration of disability ranged from 17 to 1365 days, with an average of 150.6 days. In 17.1% of the cases, the disabilities were linked to work and 13% of the recipients were rehabilitated. Conclusions: The lack of criteria to measure the degree of dysphonia and disability and the failure of legislation to classify laryngopathy as an occupational disease impacted the decision of the medical expert