Aging at Work: Survey among Health Care Shiftworkers of São Paulo,Brazil

Abstract

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 176 nurses, mean age=36.9 (SD 8.5), working in a University Hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. The main objective of this study was a self-evaluation of aging at work. Participants volunteered to answer a health care workers survey, adapted from an English version. Their main concerns about their exposure at the workplace (a) and off-the job conditions (b) were: a) changes in equipment and technology, transportation and changes in employer policies; b) personal safety, increases in the cost of living, food safety, water and air quality. The majority of workers considered themselves having adequate current work ability with respect to physical, mental and social demands. Mean perceived ability to work on a 10-point scale was 8.3 (SD = 1.18). Means of chronological age are higher than the perception of the workers about how they look, act and feel. Traditional approaches to improve some of the working conditions may be not be sufficient to achieve a good quality of the working life.

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