Voice- and swallowing-related symptoms after total thyroidectomy: evidence from a Brazilian national survey

ABSTRACT Purpose: to estimate the prevalence of voice- and swallowing-related symptoms in women submitted to total thyroidectomy. Methods: a population-based, observational, cross-sectional, analytical study, based on a Brazilian national survey. A total of 252 women, aged 18 to 58 years, submitted to total thyroidectomy, residing in the five geographical regions of the country participated in the study. All of them answered the version of the Thyroidectomy-Related Voice Questionnaire translated and adapted into Brazilian Portuguese, besides questions on demographic and clinical issues. A descriptive analysis of the categorical and quantitative variables was conducted. The relationship between the total TVQ score and the independent variables was analyzed with the Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The significance level used was 5%. Results: the most prevalent symptoms were, tired voice, after talking for a long time (50%), and dry mouth/thirst (43.3%). The voice-related symptoms were more prevalent than those related to swallowing. The total TVQ score was not related to age group (p=0.141), profession (p=0.213), region of residence (p=0.303), time since surgery (p=0.955), and radiotherapy/radioiodine therapy (p=0.666). Conclusion: Brazilian women submitted to total thyroidectomy have a high prevalence of voice- and swallowing-related symptoms, the former being predominant.