Work hours and work ability among nursing personnel: The contribution of domestic work

Work ability is a complex construct reflecting the interaction between mental and physical activities and worker's functional capabilities, health and subjective assessment of their status in given organizational and social conditions. The work ability index (WAI) was developed in Finland based on periodic health examinations and workplace surveys with the goal of promoting a healthy quality of working life. Nursing teams in Brazil comprise a peculiar working group regarding working hours as they often have two jobs. These long working hours added to domestic work represent the so-called “double or triple work engagement”. Thus, the characteristics of this particular occupational group provide further cause to understand the impact of their individual and combined contribution on work ability. The association between working hours and work ability was examined in a cross sectional study of nursing teams at three public hospitals in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Working hours were considered in terms of their professional and domestic hours per week and their combined impact, the total work load. The Brazilian version of the WAI was used. Stratified logistic analysis were carried out for women (N=1092) and men (N=156). Logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between total work load and inadequate WAI for women only. They reported a higher proportion of inadequate WAI, fewer professional work hours but longer domestic work hours than men. There were no significant differences in total work load by gender. Data on work ability were shown to reflect the sexual division of work. These findings provide further evidences on the need to incorporate information on domestic work in epidemiological studies in working settings, so that work ability can be interpreted under a gender perspective.