Effects of an ergonomic program on the quality of life and work performance of university staff with physical disabilities: A clinical trial with three-month follow-up.

BACKGROUND: Problems related to physical disability may have an extremely negative impact in the work environment, reducing productivity and contributing to health problems and a worsening quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effects of an ergonomic intervention program on the quality of life and the work performance of people with physical disabilities working in a university environment. METHODS: A pilot clinical trial with three-month follow-up was conducted at the Physiotherapy Clinic of the Federal University of Paraíba (Brazil). Eight workers at the university took part in an ergonomic adjustment (using ErgoDis/IBV software) and physiotherapy program at their workplace for twelve weeks, in two 60-min sessions per week. The measuring instruments used were the WHOQoL-BREF questionnaire for quality of life and the Work Ability Index for work ability. A repeated-measures ANOVA analysis and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were also performed. RESULTS: Significant intra-group changes were observed in the QoL subscales for the physical dimension (F = 5.487, p = 0.017) and the environment dimension (F = 7.510, p = 0.006). The post-treatment analysis revealed significant changes for both the physical dimension (Z = -2.552, p = 0.011) and the environment dimension (Z = -2.201, p = 0.028). After the three-month follow-up period, only the environment dimension recorded a significant change (Z = -1.965, p = 0.049). The effect sizes were large. Regarding work ability, the repeated-measures ANOVA analysis showed a significant time effect (F = 5.067, p = 0.022), with large pre-post treatment improvement (Z = -2.555, p = 0.011, d = 0.914). CONCLUSIONS: The program based on ergonomic and physiotherapy program greatly enhanced the subjects' quality of life and work ability.

Ionically Crosslinked Chitosan Membranes Used as Drug Carriers for Cancer Therapy Application.

The aim of this paper was to prepare, by the freeze-drying method, ionically crosslinked chitosan membranes with different contents of pentasodium tripolyphosphate (TPP) and loaded with 1,4-naphthoquinone (NQ14) drug, in order to evaluate how the physical crosslinking affects NQ14 release from chitosan membranes for cancer therapy application. The membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), swelling degree, and through in vitro drug release and cytotoxicity studies. According to the results, the molecular structure, porosity and hydrophilicity of the chitosan membranes were affected by TPP concentration and, consequently, the NQ14 drug release behavior from the membranes was also affected. The release of NQ14 from crosslinked chitosan membranes decreased when the cross-linker TPP quantity increased. Thus, depending on the TPP amount, the crosslinked chitosan membranes would be a potential delivery system to control the release of NQ14 for cancer therapy application. Lastly, the inhibitory potential of chitosan membranes ionically crosslinked with TPP and loaded with NQ14 against the B16F10 melanoma cell line was confirmed through in vitro cytotoxicity studies assessed via MTT assay. The anti-proliferative effect of prepared membranes was directly related to the amount of cross-linker and among all membranes prepared, such that one crosslinked with 0.3% of TPP may become a potential delivery system for releasing NQ14 drug for cancer therapy.

Influência da fadiga ocupacional na capacidade para o trabalho de professores universitários / Influence of occupational fatigue in the work ability of professors

RESUMO O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a influência da fadiga ocupacio nal na capacidade para o trabalho de professores do Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde de uma Instituição de Ensino Superior (IES) pública do Brasil. Trata-se de um estudo transversal descritivo, de abordagem quantitativa, realizado com 89 professores universitá rios da cidade de Campina Grande/PB. Foi utilizado um Questionário de Características Sociodemográficas e Laborais, o Questionário de Índice de Capacidade para o Trabalho (ICT) e o Questionário de Fadiga de Yoshitake (QFY). Os resultados evidenciam que a maior parte da amostra (70,9%) apresentava boa capacidade para o trabalho e um moderado nível referido de fadiga, sendo esta de ordem mental. De acordo com a análise inferencial foi visto que à medida que aumenta a presença da fadiga, diminui-se a capacidade para o traba lho (r=-0,48; p<0,0001). Além disso, foi encontrada associação entre o sexo (p= 0,004) e a presença de problemas para dormir (p=0,000) com a ocorrência de fadiga ocupacional.

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to verify the influence of occupational fatigue in work ability of professors of the Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde from a Higher Education Public Institution (HEPI) of Brazil. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, carried out with 89 university teachers of Campina Grande/PB. It was used a Sociodemographic Characteristics and Employment questionnaire, Work Ability Index Questionnarie and Fatigue Questionnaire. Results shows that the majority of the sample (70,9%) had good work ability and a moderate level of fatigue, which is mental. According to the inferencial analysis, as the presence of fatigue increases, the work ability decreases (r=-0,48; p<0,0001). In addition, it was found association between sex (p= 0.004) and the presence of sleep problems (p= 0.000) with the occur rence of occupational fatigue.

Qualidade de vida de professores do ensino fundamental de urna escola da rede pública / Quality of life of teachers from a public basic school

RESUMO: Este estudo busca avaliar a qualidade de vida dos professores do ensino fundamental de uma escola da rede pública brasileira. Trata se de um estudo transversal realizado com 26 professores. Utilizou-se um questionário sociodemográfico, o SF-36, Questionário Nórdico e o Inventário de Depressão de Beck. Observou-se a preva lência do sexo feminino (69,6%) e com cônjuge (60,9%). A maioria possuía apenas graduação (56,5%). Considerando a dor musculoesquelética, foi encontrada maior ocorrência nos membros inferiores (34,8%) e na coluna (47,8%), sendo que apenas 34,8% dos docentes entrevistados relataram algum tipo de afastamento por queixa de dor em algum dos segmentos. Apenas 5,35% dos professores apre sentaram algum indicativo de depressão. Quanto à qualidade de vida, constatou-se um escore mínimo de 56,04 para “Estado geral de saúde” e o máximo de 84,38 para o domínio “Capacidade fun cional”, sendo o domínio “Limitações por aspectos físicos” o mais afetado quando comparado dor com diminuição da qualidade de vida. Houve uma depreciação da qualidade de vida dos docentes que relataram dores, principalmente nas costas, nos últimos 12 meses. Constata-se haver comprometimento de todos os domínios do SF-36, portanto infere-se que a sintomatologia dolorosa e depressiva contribui para uma redução da qualidade de vida do docente.

ABSTRACT: This study aims to evalue the quality of life of teachers of a Brazilian public basic school. This is a cross-sectional study done with 26 teach ers. It was used a social-demographic questionnaire, the SF36, the Nordic Questionnaire and the Inventory of Beck Depression. It was observed that most teachers are female (69,6%) and married (60,9%). Most of them have only graduation (56,5%). Considering the muscu loskeletal pain, it was found higher occurrence in lower members (34,8%) and in column (47,8%), and only 34,8% of them related some kind of sick leave because of pain in some of the segments. The study showed that 5,35% of the teachers have an indicative of depression. About quality of life, it was detected a minimum score of 56,04 for "general state of health" and the maximum of 84,38 for the domain "functional capacity", with the domain "limitations for physical aspects" being the most affected when compared pain with loss of quality of life. It was observed a quality of life depreciation on the teachers that reported pain, most of them in their backs, through the last 12 months. All the domains of SF-36 were engaged, then we can infer that the painful and depressive symptomatology contributes to a reduction of teachers' quality of life.