A cross-sectional study with all the teachers in the municipal school system in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia State, Brazil, investigated the association between work content (psychological demand and control over work) and the occurrence of minor psychiatric disorders (MPD) among teachers. The Karasek demand-control model was used to evaluate control over work. The Self-Report Questionnaire-20 was used to evaluate minor psychiatric disorders. MPD prevalence was 55.9% among the 808 teachers studied. Crude prevalence of MPD showed a positive and significant association with psychological demand and a negative and significant association with control over work. MPD prevalence was higher in teachers with highly demanding work, characterized by heavy demand and low control (PR = 1.74; 95%CI: 1.44-2.10), and in those with active work, with heavy demand and low control (PR = 1.35; 95%CI: 1.13-1.61), as compared to teachers with low-demand work (light demand and high control), after adjusting for confounders in a multiple logistic regression model. As a conclusion, teachers' mental health is strongly associated with their work content.

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the association between work-related psychosocial factors and the prevalence of mental disorders among pre-school and elementary school teachers. METHODS:This cross-sectional study was undertaken with 1,024 teachers from municipal public schools and from the ten largest private schools in Vitória da Conquista, Bahia State (Northeastern Brazil) in 2001. The main independent variable was based on the demand-control model, which classifies individuals according to their job pressures. The dependent variable was the incidence of mental disorders as evaluated by a self-reporting questionnaire. The measure of frequency was prevalence, and the measure of association was the prevalence ratio. A logistic regression model was used as the main statistical technique. RESULTS:There was a 44% prevalence of mental disorders among teachers. Evidence suggests that these were associated with work-related demands and control issues, after controlling for confounding variables such as sex, geographic region and social support. The prevalence of mental disorders among high-strain teachers was 1.5 times greater than that among low-strain teachers. CONCLUSIONS:The prevalence of mental disorders was high among teachers of the municipality. There was evidence that this was associated with job demands.

Background: Epidemiological studies have indicated an association between musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and physical work demands. Psychosocial work demands have also been identified as possible risk factors, but findings have been inconsistent. Objectives: To evaluate factors associated with upper back, neck and upper limb MSD among workers from 14 plastic manufacturing companies located in the city of Salvador, Brazil. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used to survey a stratified proportional random sample of 577 workers. Data were collected by questionnaire interviews. Factor analysis was carried out on 11 physical demands variables. Psychosocial work demands were measured by demand, control and social support questions. The role of socio-demographic factors, lifestyle and household tasks was also examined. Multiple logistic regression was used to identify factors related to upper back, neck and upper limb MSDs. Results: Results from multiple logistic regression showed that distal upper limb MSDs were related to manual handling, work repetitiveness, psychosocial demands, job dissatisfaction, and gender. Neck, shoulder or upper back MSDs were related to manual handling, work repetitiveness, psychosocial demands, job dissatisfaction, and physical unfitness. Conclusions: Reducing the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders requires: improving the work environment, reducing biomechanical risk factors, and replanning work organization. Programs must also be aware of gender specificities related to MSDs.