Teachers' working conditions and health status assessment

The aim of this descriptive study is to evaluate the characteristics of work and current health condition of the teachers' who work at the schools in the city center which are affiliated to Zonguldak Provincial Directorate for National Education. The sample size to represent the total number of 2212 teachers was calculated to be 720. Simple random sampling was used. The data of this survey, of which accessibility was 91.4% (n:658), was collected via the self-administered questionnaire prepared by the researcher. While 54% of the teachers included in the study was female. Among 658 teachers, 93.9% worked as permanent staff, while 6.1% were contracted. 23.4% was found to be regularly working overtime and 4.7% had extra jobs. The mean working hours of the teachers were 34.0±10.9. The mean score of their perception of the worthiness of their job in the community was 4.5±2.1, where 10 represented the best deserved status. The mean score of their satisfaction from job was 7.3±2.3, where 10 represented the most satisfied. 39.4% of teachers had at least one disease diagnosed by a doctor. While otolaryngologic diseases were most frequent (15.8%), gastrointestinal diseases had a frequency of 13.7%. The three most frequent health complaints were backache (15.0%), headache (14.9%) and sore throat (13.7%). 17% of the teachers were using medicine on regular basis. Being a role model and having the ability to reach to whole community, the teachers have a key status for health promotion and prevention. Considering their potential of reflecting their knowledge and perceptions to the community, it is essential to integrate the health of teachers into school health services or cover them in occupational health services. With the new legislation, TSM based occupational health services can be carried out with the support of occupational health nurses.