Qualidade de vida e laboral dos agentes comunitários de saúde em um município do Maranhão

Abstract

Community Health Workers (CHWs) play a central role in the Family Health Strategy. However, they are often exposed to adverse working conditions and occupational stressors, which may compromise their quality of life and the effectiveness of Primary Health Care. This study aimed to analyze the quality of life and quality of work life of Community Health Workers in São José de Ribamar, Maranhão, as well as their associated factors. This is a cross-sectional, quantitative study with 155 participants, whose data were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire covering sociodemographic characteristics, lifestyle habits, and health conditions, as well as validated instruments to assess quality of life and quality of work life. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Qualitative variables were expressed as absolute and relative frequencies, while quantitative variables, after the Shapiro–Wilk normality test, were presented as medians and percentiles. A predominance of females was observed, with a higher proportion aged over 50 years (56.1%) and a long professional trajectory (median of 25 years). Regarding lifestyle habits, most participants were non-smokers (95.5%) and did not consume alcoholic beverages (78.6%), while 45.2% reported engaging in regular physical activity. A high prevalence of overweight (83.3%) and chronic conditions such as hypertension (32.9%), diabetes (17.4%), and dyslipidemia (24.0%) was identified. Quality of life scores were higher in the psychological and social relationships domains (median of 75.0), intermediate in the physical domain (67.9), and lower in the environment domain (60.7). Quality of work life showed a median of 76.0, indicating an overall satisfactory perception. A negative association was observed between the physical domain and age, number of children, and number of families followed, while a positive association was found between the psychological domain and years of professional experience. The environment domain was negatively correlated with the number of children, with no significant associations identified for the social relationships domain or quality of work life. In multivariate analysis, the number of families followed and family burden showed a negative impact on the physical and environmental domains. It is concluded that, although CHWs perceive their work-related quality of life as satisfactory, factors such as age, family burden, and the number of families followed may negatively impact the physical and environmental domains of their quality of life. These findings highlight the need for policies focused on workload management, occupational health promotion, and family and psychosocial support strategies for this professional group.