Elaine Cristina Marqueze

Morbidity among nursing personnel and its association with working conditions and work organization

INTRODUCTIONnWork organization patterns and working conditions experienced by nursing personnel in the hospital settings may be associated to increased morbidity among these health workers.nnnAIMnTo estimate the prevalence and factors associated with self-reported diseases among nursing personnel at the emergency hospital in Rio Branco/State of Acre, Brazil.nnnMETHODSnA cross-sectional study was conducted involving 272 participants who answered a questionnaire including sociodemographic characteristics, working conditions, lifestyles, work ability, and a fatigue perception scale. The self-reported diseases in the 12 months prior to data collection were considered the dependent variable.nnnRESULTSnA total of 85.7% of the participants reported one or more diseases in the past 12 months. Most prevalent diseases were: musculoskeletal diseases (37.1%), digestive diseases (28.7%), mental disorders (28.3%), work injuries (27.9%), and respiratory diseases (26.8%). The following significant variables remained in the final model: high work demands (OR 2.69), reported fatigue (OR 3.59), night work (OR 6.55) and being a technician or nursing assistant (OR 4.23).nnnCONCLUSIONSnVariables related to working conditions and work organization were associated with the occurrence of reported diseases among nursing professionals. Health promotion measures at work require a comprehensive approach including the working conditions and the work organization.

Musculoskeletal pain and insomnia among workers with different occupations and working hours.

ABSTRACT Several studies have shown a bidirectional relationship between insomnia and pain. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether working hours and type of occupation are associated with insomnia, pain and insomnia plus pain. Insomnia and musculoskeletal pain symptoms were measured in airline pilots, rural workers and factory workers using validated indexes. Rural and night work were predictors for the outcomes (insomnia and pain). However, musculoskeletal pain was found to be a predictor of insomnia but not vice versa. The current findings suggest that working hours and type of occupation play a role in the sleep–pain relationship.

Excess weight in regular aviation pilots associated with work and sleep characteristics

Objective To identify the prevalence and associated factors of overweight and obesity in Brazilian commercial airline pilots. Methods An observational, cross-sectional study involving 1198 Brazilian commercial airline pilots with a sampling power >80% (ß=20%) and confidence level of 95% (α=5%) was carried out. The pilots completed an on-line questionnaire collecting data on sociodemographics, work, health, lifestyle and sleep. Poisson regression, with robust variance (stepwise forward technique), was employed to analyze the factors associated with excess weight (overweight and obesity). The models were adjusted for the variables age, marital status and education. The data were analyzed using the STATA 12.0 program. Results The prevalence of overweight among the pilots was 53.7% and of obesity was 14.6%. The probability of being overweight was highest among pilots working night shifts for 6–10 years and that had difficulty relaxing after work, where perceived morningness was a protective factor. Risk factors for obesity included working night-shifts for 6–10 years, having difficulty relaxing after work, sleeping <6 h on days off, having other diagnosed diseases, and practicing <150 min/week of physical exercise. Conclusion It was concluded that the prevalence of overweight and obesity among the commercial airline pilots was high and represents a public health problem in this population. Excess weight was associated with time working night-shifts, difficulty relaxing after work, inadequate sleep on days off, having other chronic diseases, and physical inactivity. In this context, nutritional status can be regarded as the result of dynamic and complex interactions promoted by occupational, sleep and health factors.

Contribuições da pós-graduação na área da saúde para a formação profissional: relato de experiência

This article reports a learning experience that took place during a graduate course discipline at the School of Public Health of the University of Sao Paulo, where students could make contact with the practice of a methodological discourse analysis strategy. To do this, a working group of students has developed a project aimed at identifying the expectations of graduate students with regard to the course contribution in professional practices. The collection and analysis of the discourse of 21 subjects were conducted. Two questions on the theme were proposed and the answers were collected by using the software QLQT; they were analyzed manually according to the methodological strategy of collective subject discourse. The results indicate that, generally, the subjects who attend a graduate course in the health field believe it influences positively on their professional practices.