Prevalência de sintomas musculoesqueléticos em professores universitários que realizaram teletrabalho durante a pandemia pela Covid-19: uma análise nacional

Abstract

Introduction: during the pandemic by COVID-19, teachers of Brazilian Higher Education Institutions (HEI), who teleworked, had to suddenly adapt and face the challenges of the new teaching model, besides having to deal with the psychological stress caused by the pandemic itself. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms (MSM), and possible associated factors, in professors at Brazilian higher education institutions who teleworked during the pandemic by COVID-19. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, retrospective study, being part of the study "Musculoskeletal symptoms and Burnout Syndrome in university professors who teleworked during the pandemic COVID-19", following the recommendations of the STROBE guidelines for observational studies, carried out with university professors in Brazil who teleworked during the pandemic. An electronic questionnaire designed on Google forms platform and made available by digital means was used, between June 2021 and January 2022. Information was collected on the presence of EMS (Nordic Musculoskeletal Symptoms Questionnaire) and potentially associated factors in the context of the pandemic: sociodemographic, health, professional aspects, mastery in the use of digital information, and communication technologies (ICTs). Data were expressed as frequency and percentages. The Wilcoxon test was used to assess intensity before and during the pandemic, and the association between the outcomes was assessed using Chi-square and binominal logistic regression, p<0.05. Results: A total of 712 teachers participated in the study. The prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms (MSM) during the pandemic was 87.6%, and the body regions with the most complaints were the neck (64.2%), lower back (58.9%), and shoulder (56.7%). There was a change in self-reported pain severity from weak to moderate (before) to moderate to strong during the pandemic. The presence of EMS was associated with: private school networks (p=0.01), the weekly workload of 21h to 40h (p=0.02) and above 40h (p=0.00), participation in some kind of training for the use of ICTs during the pandemic (p=0.01). Living in the southeast region and teaching in the exact and earth sciences were associated with a lower chance of belonging to the EMS group. Conclusion: University professors telecommuting during the pandemic showed high prevalence and increased severity of EMS, factors such as the Brazilian region, HEI category, high weekly workload, and the type of knowledge area they teach were associated with the prevalence of EMS in teachers during the pandemic.