Job satisfaction and absenteeism among Brazilian teachers

Teachers, especially those in primary education, face unfavorable working conditions, which lead to job dissatisfaction and affect their physical and mental health, thus contributing to absenteeism.

To verify the association between lower job satisfaction and absenteeism due to short and long term health problems in elementary and hight school teachers.

This observational, analytical, individual, cross-sectional, retrospective cohort study included 899 elementary and high school teachers. Absenteeism was determined by self-reported absences in the last 12 months for health reasons, categorized as short term (1-7 days) or long term (≥8 days). Job satisfaction was measured by the Occupational Stress Indicator scale, categorized as lower satisfaction (≤25th percentile) or higher satisfaction (>25th percentile). Multinomial logistic regression was used, and the odds ratio was calculated as a measure of association.

The majority of the teachers were women (68.3%) and were permanently employed (69.1%); the mean age was 42 (SD, 10) years. Women, younger teachers, permanent employees, those reporting chronic pain or illness, and those reporting a moderate/poor level of physical or mental work capacity had a higher risk of absenteeism. Lower job dissatisfaction was associated with short-term and long-term absenteeism. Job satisfaction was only related to short-term absenteeism after the adjustments made.

There was an association between absenteeism and lower job satisfaction, which indicates that measures to improve job satisfaction are necessary.