Working hours and health in nurses of public hospitals according to gender

• Published in: Revista de saúde pública 2017-01, Vol.51, p.63-63
• Main Authors: Fernandes, Juliana da Costa, Portela, Luciana Fernandes, Griep, Rosane Härter, Rotenberg, Lúcia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Autoavaliação Nível de Saúde; Brazil; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diagnostic Self Evaluation; Enfermeiras e Enfermeiros; Female; Health Policy & Services; Health Status; Hospitais Públicos; Hospitals, Public; Humans; Jornada de Trabalho; Male; Nurses; Nursing Staff, Hospital; Original; Sex Factors; Socioeconomic Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires; Time Factors; Workload - statistics & numerical data
• ISSN: 0034-8910; 1518-8787; 1518-8787; 0034-8910
• DOI: 10.1590/S1518-8787.2017051006808

To assess the association between weekly working hours and self-rated health of nurses in public hospitals in Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A total of 3,229 nurses (82.7% of the eligible group) participated in this cross-sectional study, carried out between April 2010 and December 2011. The collection instrument consisted of a self-administered multidimensional questionnaire. The weekly working hours were calculated from a recall of the daily hours worked over seven consecutive days; this variable was categorized according to tertiles of distribution for men and women. The outcome of interest, self-rated health, was categorized into three levels: good (very good and good), regular, and poor (poor and very poor). The statistical analysis of the data included bivariate and multivariate analyses, having as reference group those with short working hours (first tertile). All the analyses were stratified by gender and elaborated using the program SPSS. Among women, the group corresponding to the longest working week (more than 60.5 hours per week) were more likely to report regular self-rated health, compared with those with shorter working hours, after adjusting for confounding factors (OR = 1.30; 95%CI 1.02-1.67). Among men, those with average working hours (49.5-70.5 hours per week) were more than twice as likely to rate their health as regular (OR = 2.17; 95%CI 1.08-4.35) compared to those with shorter working hours (up to 49.5 hours). There was no significant association between long working hours and poor self-rated health. The results point to the urgent need to promote interventions in the organization of work and appreciation of the nursing profession, in order to reduce the number of multiple jobs and thus contribute to mitigate potential effects on the health of workers and the quality of care in hospitals. Avaliar a associação entre horas de trabalho semanais e autoavaliação de saúde de enfermeiros em hospitais públicos do Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. Um total de 3.229 enfermeiros (82,7% do grupo de elegíveis) participou deste estudo transversal, realizado entre abril de 2010 e dezembro de 2011. O instrumento de coleta consistiu em um questionário multidimensional autopreenchido. As horas de trabalho semanais foram calculadas a partir de um recordatório das horas diárias de trabalho ao longo de sete dias consecutivos; esta variável foi categorizada de acordo com tercis da distribuição para homens e mulheres. O desfecho de interesse,