COVID-19 pandemic and remote teaching activities: ergonomic risks and musculoskeletal symptoms of professors at IFC

Abstract

The objective of the research was to evaluate the musculoskeletal symptoms and the ergonomic risks of the jobs of Instituto Federal Catarinense (IFC) professors' workplaces. 140 professors participated who answered an online questionnaire on sociodemographic information, task performance, work environment and musculoskeletal pain. Data were analyzed using binary logistic regression separately for each outcome, using pain in the neck, right shoulder and lumbar spine as dependent variables. The prevalence of pain among professors was 94.7% and the most frequent regions were the neck, lumbar spine and right shoulder. The main ergonomic risks were: mental overload (stress), inadequate work table and monitor. An association was observed between neck pain and professors who had greater mental overload (stress), who do not engage in physical activity and who use the computer for more than 20 hours a week, pain in the right shoulder and the group of professors who do not engage in physical activity, who use the computer for more than 20 hours a week, that the work table was not at elbow level and there was no space to support their forearms. Still, pain in the lumbar spine was associated with the group of women with weekly class hours greater than 15 hours and with chronic disease. The results found make it possible to adapt the work posts to the professors with the purpose of preventing pain, improving the quality of life and teaching.