Participation in nighttime activities in the genesis of depression in public school teachers from the State of Pernambuco, Brazil

Teachers often undertake nighttime work involving exam corrections, projects and devising lesson plans in their homes. Many present excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and depression. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate EDS and depression in teachers from public schools. METHODS: 201 female teachers were evaluated in the district of Quipapá/PE, Brazil. Among the study sample, 38 working 1 shift (CONTROL 1), 40 working 2 shifts (CONTROL 2) and 123 working 3 shifts (WTeachers-3T). The subjects were submitted to evaluation by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI).The EDS data were analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis test with Dunn's multiple comparison, p<0.05and expressed in MEDIAN (MINIMUM - MAXIMUM) whereas the depression data were analyzed by the Chi-square test, with p<0.05, expressed in percentage. RESULTS: WTeachers-3T presented excessive daytime sleepiness and higher rates of mild (24%) and moderate (37%) depression compared to controls - Control 1: mild (8%) and moderate (11%) - Control 2: mild (5%) and moderate (15%). CONCLUSION: This study found that teachers in the Quipapá municipality of Penambuco state working three shifts showed excessive daytime sleepiness and a higher percentage of mild and moderate depression compared to teachers working only one (1) or two (2) shifts.