Hygienic assessment of lifestyle, work pressure and regime, health status and psychological well-being in teachers

Introduction. The state of health in students in schools is directly dependent on the state of health and psycho-emotional well-being in teachers.

The purpose of the study: to substantiate the algorithm for assessing the provision of favourable conditions for the professional activities of schoolteachers based on an analysis of the lifestyle, work intensity and work regime, the state of health and psychological well-being in teachers.

Materials and methods. The object of the study were teachers, tools for assessing the health promoting activities of schools. Surveys of lifestyle, work management, psychological status in teachers, medical examinations were conducted; analysis of tools for assessing the health promoting activities of schools.

Results. Teachers are mostly women aged 30 to 59 years, with an average teaching experience of 23 years, have favourable family and living conditions. The optimal intensity of the teacher’s activity was found in 3.3%, acceptable – in 76.7%, tense of the 1st degree (harmful) – in 20.0%. 74.1% of teachers had a high level of occupatonal stress. Most teachers care little for their health. The leading behavioural risk factors for teachers are irrational unbalanced nutrition, irrational management of work and rest, low physical activity.

Limitations. The use of a complex of research methods was one of the strengths of the study, which made it possible to identify potential factors affecting the health of teachers and develop an algorithm for assessing the provision of favourable conditions for the professional activities of schoolteachers. The program of an in-depth examination with the determination of the state of health and psychological status included only primary school teachers in Moscow, so the results of the study may vary depending on the place of residence (region) and personal characteristics, but can be generalized in relation to persons with similar background characteristics and conditions.

Conclusion. Modern professional risk factors for the health of teachers are determined. For the first time, indicators and an algorithm for assessing the provision of favourable conditions for the professional activity of schoolteachers are proposed. 

Compliance with ethical standards. Research involving schoolteachers was done on a voluntary basis, with sufficient information available to be understood, in compliance with the ethical standards set out in the Declaration of Helsinki, the international ethical guidelines for conducting biomedical research on humans.

Patient consent. Each participant of the study gave informed voluntary written consent to participate in the study and publish personal medical information in an impersonal form in the journal “Gigiena i Sanitariya (Hygiene and Sanitation, Russian journal)”.

Contribution:
Kuchma V.R. — the concept and design of the study, editing;
Sokolova S.B. — the concept and design of the study, collection and processing of material, statistical processing, writing a text;
Rapoport I.K. — collection and processing of material, editing;
Chubarovsky V.V. — collection and processing of material, editing.
All authors are responsible for the integrity of all parts of the manuscript and approval of the manuscript final version

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgement. The study had no sponsorship.

Received: January 24, 2023 / Accepted: March 24, 2023 / Published: May 29, 2023