Violence Against Teachers and Work Ability: A Cross-Sectional Study in Northeast Brazil.

This study aimed to describe teacher work ability in relation to violence against teachers and certain sociodemographic and occupational features. A cross-sectional study investigated 525 kindergarten and elementary grade school teachers from Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Northeast Brazil. Information from each teacher was collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The main outcome was teacher reports about their current and future (in 2 years' time) physical and emotional work ability. The teachers were predominantly female, young, with heavy workloads and on low incomes. Teachers reported being victimized in the school by physical violence (22.9%), verbal violence (42.9%), theft or robbery (36.4%), aggression or threats with a firearm or a non-firearm weapon (knife, glass, etc.; 7.0%), or by some form of violence (58.4%). Teachers reported low physical (56.0%) and emotional (40.6%) current work ability. Low physical work ability was significantly associated with physical and verbal violence, theft and robbery, and some form of violence; low emotional work ability was associated with physical and verbal violence, aggression or threat with a weapon, and some form of violence. Expectation of low work ability in the future was reported by 42.9% of the teachers and was associated with higher education level, and physical violence, verbal violence, theft or robbery, aggression or threat with a weapon, and some form of violence. The association between violence and work ability was modified by education level. Subsequent control of confounding in the strata of education confirmed the associations between violence and low work ability. The physical, emotional, and future work ability of teachers was low and associated with school violence, indicating the need to promote a safer work environment inside the school and in society as a whole.

Verbal Aggression Against Teacher and Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Pain.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the relationship between verbal aggression against school teachers and upper extremity (neck, shoulder, upper limb, and/or upper back) musculoskeletal pain. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 525 elementary school teachers from Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Northeast Brazil. RESULTS: The prevalence of upper extremity musculoskeletal pain among teachers who reported verbal aggression in the past six months (67.7%) was higher than that among those who did not report verbal aggression (51.7%): (prevalence ratio = 1.21; 95% confidence interval = 1.04-1.40). The prevalence of upper extremity musculoskeletal pain was associated with verbal aggression, sex, and common mental disorders, controlled by skin color, age, monthly income, teachers' education, years working as a teacher, workload, and obesity. Furthermore, the measure of the association between verbal aggression and upper extremity musculoskeletal pain was modified by sex and common mental disorders, considered altogether. Teachers who suffered verbal aggression, of the feminine sex, and also having common mental disorders reported high prevalence (85.4%) of upper extremity musculoskeletal pain. CONCLUSION: The association between verbal violence in the school and complaints of upper extremity musculoskeletal pain was strong and modified by teachers' sex and common mental disorders.

Social determinants of health associated with topical repellent use in pregnancy: a cross-sectional study during a Zika outbreak in Brazil.

Background: Repellent use during pregnancy was strongly recommended after uncovering Zika virus (ZIKV) involvement with congenital malformations. In this context, Pernambuco, Brazil played a key role since it was the epicentre for the main studies suggesting ZIKV teratogenicity and one of Brazil's most affected states during the 2014-2016 epidemics. Thus we aimed to identify possible associations between social determinants of health and repellent use in pregnancy during the ZIKV outbreak in Pernambuco. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study (July-December 2016) with 539 pregnant women residing in Pernambuco and estimated the associations by prevalence ratio and multivariable logistic regression. Results: Repellents were associated with pregnant women ≥30 y; graduates, employed, health professionals, private health system users and with a monthly income per person greater than two minimum wages. Women whose domiciles favour mosquitoes (ground-floor houses, intermittent water supply from general distribution or water trucks and for ≤6 d/week, cesspools/open wastewater, indoor household water storage) were less likely to use repellents. There was no association for peridomiciles. Conclusions: Repellents were not associated with ZIKV in most vulnerable pregnant women, despite all the general recommendations made during the Pernambuco epidemic. This study observed a demand for public policies focused on health, education and sanitation problems related to deprived social groups along with their co-responsibility rather than focusing on individual attitudes against mosquitoes.