Quality of life, health and work of elementary school teachers

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the quality of life of elementary school teachers and compare it with socio-demographic factors, functional status, voice disorders, common mental disorders and musculoskeletal symptoms. Methods: Cross-sectional study with elementary school teachers from the municipal education system in the state capital of Mato Grosso, selected by probability sampling. The research instruments used were: World Health Organization Quality Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF), Condition of Vocal Production - Teacher, Screening Index for Voice Disorder, Self-Reporting Questionnaire, and Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire. Descriptive statistics of frequency, central tendency, dispersion and inferential analyzes were performed with Wilcoxon, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests, with a significance level of ≤ 0.05. Results: Data from 326 teachers, with a mean age of 43.01 years and 87.12% female were analyzed. In a general analysis of quality of life levels, the lowest median observed was in the "environment" domain" (53.13; p<0.001). Some domains of the WHOQOL-BREF presented differences in relation to gender, level education, commuting time, workload, employment bond and musculoskeletal complaints. The presence of voice disorder and common mental disorder was associated with significant statistical differences in all domains and in the two general questions of WHOQOL-BREF. Conclusion: Quality of life presented lower scores in the "environment" domain and some domains presented differences in relation to gender, level of education, commuting time, workload and employment bond. Presence of vocal disorders, common mental disorders, and complaints of musculoskeletal symptoms affect teachers' quality of life.