Entre o quadro e o colchão: qualidade do sono e capacidades físicas em professores do ensino médio público

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Sleep is a vital process for the survival and development of human beings. However, some professions, such as teaching, present aspects that can directly influence sleep quality. Conversely, physical activity has proven effective in improving sleep quality.OBJECTIVE: To assess the sleep quality, cardiorespiratory capacity, and hand grip strength of public high school teachers. METHODOLOGY: This is an exploratory study with a quantitative approach and an experimental design. The sample consisted of high school teachers from the state and federal school systems in the city of São João dos Patos, Maranhão. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to assess sleep quality, and the McArdle bench test and the handgrip strength test were performed to evaluate cardiorespiratory capacity. Data were described using relative frequencies, percentages, and measures of central tendency. Spearman's correlation test and Fisher's exact test were used to verify associations between categorical variables. An alpha of 5% was adopted, and all analyses were performed using the statistical package (Jamovi 2.3.28). RESULTS: The study included 40 teachers of both sexes, 17 (43%) male and 23 (57%) female. Regarding the sleep quality index, 15 (88%) of the male participants and 13 (56%) of the female participants presented a poor sleep quality rating. There was no statistical significance in the association between the sexes of the participants' sleep quality index (p=0.09). Regarding handgrip strength, it was found that the majority of male and female participants were classified as having normal handgrip strength, 10 (59%) and 18 (78%), respectively. There was no statistical significance in the classification of handgrip strength between the sexes of the teachers (p=0.210). Regarding cardiorespiratory capacity, above-average and excellent classifications predominated in both sexes, corresponding to 6 (26%) and 6 (26%) in females, and 3 (18%) and 5 (29%) in males, respectively. There was no statistical significance when comparing the sexes in the classification of the participants' cardiorespiratory capacity (p=0.687). CONCLUSION: It was observed that most teachers presented poor sleep quality, although most had adequate levels of handgrip strength and cardiorespiratory capacity, highlighting the importance of implementing strategies aimed at promoting sleep quality among teachers