Quality of life and quality of working life of health science professors at a higher education institution/Qualidade de vida e qualidade de vida no trabalho em docentes da saude de uma instituicao de ensino superior

• Published in: Revista brasileira de medicina do trabalho 2017-01, Vol.15 (1), p.18
• Main Authors: Gomes, Khays Karlla, Sanchez, Hugo Machado, Sanchez, Eliane Gouveia de Morais, Sbroggio, Andre Luiz Jr, Filho, Whaine Morais Arantes, da Silva, Luiz Almeida, Barbosa, Maria Alves, Porto, Celmo Celeno
• Format: Article
• Language: Portuguese
• ISSN: 1679-4435
• DOI: 10.5327/Z1679443520177027

Background: Teaching is a profession with countless singularities, and while having undoubtable relevance and significance its appreciation by the government and society at large is questionable. As a function of the many attributions of university professors, their quality of life might be impaired. Aim: Teaching is a profession of paramount importance, but also highly stressful. Professors are exposed to an environment characterized by conflict and high job demands, which might impair their quality of working life (QWL) and quality of life (QOL). The aims of the present study were to assess the QWL and QOL of university health science professors at a higher education institution, to investigate the possible correlation between QOL and QWL, to compare QOL and QWL among professors with different work arrangements, and to compare QOL and QWL as a function of gender. Methods: The main aim of the present study was to assess the QWL and QOL of university health science professors. To achieve this goal we conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive and observational study that included 114 university health science professors from a public higher education institution. The instruments used were WHOQOL-bref, TQWL-42 and a demographic questionnaire. Results: The overall QWL score, 3.56 [+ or -] 2.01, was considered to be satisfactory, while the QOL score, 14.45 [+ or -] 4.34, might be rated moderately satisfactory. Comparison of QOL and QWL between tenured and non-tenured professors did not evidence statistically significant difference. On comparison per gender, there was difference in the psychological (p=0.00) and environment (p=0.01) domains and total score (p=0.03) of QOL between male tenured and non-tenured female professors, having a relationship with the biological (p=0.02) and economic/political (p=0.02) spheres of QWL. There was also difference between non-tenured male and tenured female professors relative to the physical domain of QOL (p=0.04), the psychological/behavioral (p=0.01), sociological/relational (p=0.00) and environmental/organizational (p=0.04) spheres of QWL, and QWL total score (p=0.02). Comparison between tenured male and female professors did not evidence any significant difference. Analysis by means of Pearson's correlation coefficient revealed significant positive correlation between QOL and QWL in both the group of tenured (r=0, 78 and p=0.00) and the one of non-tenured (r=0.69 and p=0.00) professors. Conclusion: One may conclude that i