Condições de vida, trabalho e saúde de professores da educação básica de Montes Claros e Minas Gerais

Abstract

Teachers constitute a professional category vulnerable to work-related illnesses. The objective of this thesis was to analyze the living, working and health conditions of teachers in basic education state schools of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The trajectory of the Doctorate course followed the evolution of a research proposal that began in 2016, with the project 'Chronic health conditions and associated factors among public school teachers: population-based study' (ProfSMoc), a cross-sectional epidemiological survey which focused on a sample of 745 teachers in basic education state schools of Montes Claros. In 2020, another project had the participation of 15,641 teachers. This project was named 'Health and work conditions of basic education teachers in the state education network of Minas Gerais in the pandemic' (ProfSMoc – Stage Minas Covid) and consisted of a cross-sectional epidemiological survey of the websurvey type. In 2021, in-person teaching activities were resumed as a result of the relative control of the pandemic. In this context, it started the project 'Health and work conditions of basic education teachers in the state of Minas Gerais: cohort study' (ProfSMinas): a longitudinal epidemiological survey of the websurvey type that obtained the participation of 1,907 teachers from state schools. Based on the data collected in the three projects, six scientific products were elaborated within the scope of this Doctorate course: five articles and an electronic book. The first article analyzed data from ProfSMoc and aimed to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with negative self-rated health. The prevalence was 32.9% (95%CI=28.8-37.4) and it was associated with overcrowding in classes, dissatisfaction with work, physical inactivity, obesity, chronic diseases and vocal complaints. Three studies analyzed data from ProfSMoc – Stage Minas Covid. One article aimed to investigate factors associated with the occurrence of infection and hospitalization due to Covid-19. The prevalence of infection was 1.2% (95%CI=1.0-1.4); higher among women, those with higher income and private health insurance, those who had not received sufficient information about the disease, obese teachers and those with friends or family having developed severe symptoms of Covid-19. Among those infected, 6.5% (95%CI=6.1-6.9) were hospitalized and there was a higher prevalence among risk groups. The second article in this series aimed to investigate the emergence of back pain as a result of changes in usual activities due to the pandemic. The prevalence was 57.7% (95%CI=56.9-58.5) and remained associated with work overload, difficulties in working remotely, less healthy behaviors, worse physical and emotional health situations. The third and final article of this series – fourth, considering this and the previous project – aimed to analyze possible differences in the living and health conditions of female teachers who are the main financial providers of the household during the pandemic, when compared to co-providers. Among the 12,817 participants, 47.2% (95%CI=46.3-48.1) declared themselves to be the main providers and, in comparison to the co-providers, they were older, lived without a partner, had children and had a worse socioeconomic condition, higher accumulation of work and less healthy behaviors. The fifth article analyzed data from ProfSMinas and aimed to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders and associated factors. The prevalence was 35.9% (95%CI=33.8-38.1) and it remained associated with effective employment, exposure to occupational stressors, voice disorders, insufficient physical activity and excessive smartphone use. The sixth product, an electronic book, is a technical report that presented the main results of the first phase of ProfSMinas data collection. In general, the results constitute a set of empirical evidence that reveals the illness of teachers and also demonstrates that the relationships established with aspects of the environment, time and school space can affect the experience at work and the living and health conditions of these professionals.