Abstract

OLMEDO-BUENROSTRO, Bertha Alicia et al. Health profile and productivity of university teachers. Rev Cubana Invest Bioméd [online]. 2013, vol.32, n.2, pp. 130-138. ISSN 0864-0300.

Background: In Latin America, many educational agents consider that, to develop a continuous self-improvement of the teaching personnel, the teachers should periodically undergo a conscious and systematic performance evaluation process, what leads to another cause of stress among them. Objective: The workload to which Full Time Teachers (FTT) are submitted in the universities can be a generating source of diseases; this is the reason why the health profile in relation to their teaching performance was identified. Methods: A descriptive transversal study was conducted in a universe of 61 Full Time Teachers of the Biological Sciences and Health in the University of Colima. Informed consent was requested and anonymity was granted. Results: The selection criteria comprised a total of 47 FTT. Two groups were created, according to the levels of stimuli for teaching performance: from I to IV and from V to VIII. In both groups of teachers, dental cavities, overweight, obesity, digestive diseases and asthenopia were found. In those who obtained the highest levels, back pain, headaches, insomnia, anxiety, chronic fatigue and venous insufficiency were significantly added, reflecting that, a higher productivity leads to a higher increase of diseases, as reported by the researchers. Conclusions: A limitation of this study is that it has a small sample; however, it gives us the clues that the level of teaching performance could be associated with different pathologies. It is necessary to carry out further studies with a larger sample size to confirm this statement.

Keywords : health profile; Full Time Teachers (FTT); university teachers; stimuli.

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