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Musculoskeletal Ailments and Working Conditions in Teachers Who Telework: A Case Study from a Private Institution in the City of Guayaquil

Abstract:

Education has suffered changes during the outbreak of the novel Coronavirus COVID-19 forcing our teachers to implement new strategies to teach online. With this new working format, we must consider that one of the most common health problems affecting our teleworkers are musculoskeletal ailments. These types of alterations constitute the pathology that generates a large number of cases of disability. The objective of this research was to determine the prevalence of musculoskeletal ailments through the use of the ERGOPAR questionnaire, the working conditions through the use of the PVD (DSE) questionnaire in teachers that perform online teaching. It’s a descriptive study with a transversal approach performed with 104 teachers from an education institution in the city of Guayaquil-Ecuador in the year 2021. ERGOPAR and PVD (DSE) questionnaires were applied. The prevalence was high, finding discomfort, pain, or both in “neck, shoulders, and thoracic back pain” 77.77% in males and 81.82% in females; discomfort or pain in the “lumbar zone” 70.37% in males and 79.22% in females. It’s demonstrated that there is no pbkp_redisposition to a higher affection on a particular sex. Characteristically, the exposure to DSE causes discomfort due to the reflection from the screen affecting 51.85% of males and 66.23% of females. This research contributes significantly to ergonomics, it could demonstrate a negative relationship in the health of teachers linking musculoskeletal ailments and the characteristics of online teaching.