QUALIDADE DE VIDA E SINTOMAS MUSCULOESQUELÉTICOS DE TRABALHADORES DE INDÚSTRIAS DE CERÂMICA.

Abstract

The red ceramic industry uses clay to produce tiles, blocks and bricks that are used in the civil construction. For the most part, these kinds of industries are classified as small and medium enterprises and utilize outdated technology and equipment in the production process. To meet the market demands, new management models have been adopted, interfering directly in the labor relations. This investigation aimed to evaluate the quality of life and the musculoskeletal symptoms of ceramic industry workers in the city of Guanambi, located in the state of Bahia. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive study whose sample consisted of 73 male workers of line production of six ceramic industries that were executing their job for at least one year. As a quality of life assessment tool it was used the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), the Nordic questionnaire to assess the occurrence of osteoskeletal symptoms and a questionnaire with sociodemographic information to identify the demographic profile of social workers in the ceramic industry. It was noted that most of the ceramic industry workers were young, married, with low education and low income. It was found out that the workers had a good quality of life and osteoskeletal symptoms in shoulders, spine, lumbar spine and knees exerted major influence on their quality of life. It was also observed that the sociodemographic variables such as education, income and position in the company had great influence over the musculoskeletal symptoms. All workers had musculoskeletal symptoms in the last seven days or in the last twelve months being the lumbar spine the most affected region. Discomfort in the lower back led the worker to stop working not only in the last seven days but also in the last twelve months. It is necessary the surveillance of a multidisciplinary team for implementation and development of programs for prevention and promotion of the worker s health and quality of life.