Self-rated health among teachers: prevalence, predictors, and impact on absenteeism, presenteeism, and sick leave

INTRODUCTION: Self-rated health is an important indicator of health in the population, but among teachers, predictive sociodemographic, occupational, and health variables and the impact of self-rated health on absenteeism, presenteeism, and sick-leave are unknown. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with poor self-rated health among elementary school teachers and to investigate whether poor self-rated health can predict absenteeism, presenteeism, and sick leave. METHODS: The sample comprised 493 elementary school teachers from Londrina, Paraná, Brazil. A self-report questionnaire was used to assess self-rated health and sociodemographic, occupational, and lifestyle factors, health indicators, chronic diseases, disabilities, and number of days of absenteeism, presenteeism, and sick leave. Poisson regression was used to estimate prevalence ratios and rate ratios. RESULTS: The prevalence of poor self-rated health was 16.4% and the variables positively associated with this outcome were health insurance (prevalence ratio = 2.35), inadequate school infrastructure (prevalence ratio = 1.56), physical activity (prevalence ratio = 0.60), poor perceived fitness (prevalence ratio = 2.44), voice disorders (prevalence ratio =1.46), common mental disorders (prevalence ratio = 1.74), emotional exhaustion (prevalence ratio = 1.61), low personal accomplishment (prevalence ratio = 1.64), chronic disease (prevalence ratio = 2.39), and disability (prevalence ratio = 1.57). Poor self-rated health was positively associated with both absenteeism (rate ratio=1.71) and presenteeism (rate ratio = 1.74). CONCLUSIONS: Occupational and individual characteristics associated with impaired physical and mental health should be targeted to improve self-rated health among teachers. Furthermore, a single question on self-rated health is a useful tool for monitoring and preventing absenteeism and presenteeism among teachers.