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Abstract(Please copy/paste the abstract send to the congress) : |
ASSESSMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE OF TEACHERS IN GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOLS OF TEHRAN COMPARED TO GENERAL POPULATION OF TEHRAN
Authors: Farahnaz Khajehnasiri, Soheila Dabiran
Institutes: Tehran University of Medical Science, Iran, Tehran
Email: khajenasiri@sina.tums.ac.ir
Introduction: Existence of any kind of problem in quality of life (QOL) of teachers can affect their job performance. A lower quality of life (QOL) for teachers have been reported, and this has been attributed to their higher occupational stress (1, 2, 3). Few studies have been reported about Iranian teachers' quality of life. Therefore, this study was conducted in order to assess the teachers’ quality of life in Tehran high schools and compare it with the quality of life of Tehran general population.
Methods
In a cross sectional study, 190 teachers were selected randomly among all of teachers of girls’ high schools in down town, Tehran. The study population consists of teachers working in 19 high schools. Pretest questionnaire was filled out by 30 teachers, sample size was calculated according to mean and standard deviation of the total QOL score in pretest and Tehran general population. Data was collected by the SF-36 Quality of Life and Demographic Questionnaire. The health concepts are described by a range of scores varying from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating better health (4). All of the participants were well informed about the content and the aim of the questionnaire. After written consent was signed, an anonymous questionnaire was distributed to individual subjects. The study protocol was in accordance with the ethical standards of the Human Experimentation of Tehran Medical University Committee. Results: In total, 169 questionnaires were obtained for analysis, and the valid response rate was 0.94%. Approximately 48% of the teachers had teaching experience more than 20 years, and about 87.6% were currently married. This study showed that the mean and standard deviation of total score of Mental health, Physical health and Quality of Life were 65.77 ± 16.81, 64.28 ± 17.95, 66.02 ± 16.91, respectively. There was a positive association between mean scores of mental health subscale with teaching experience, also between mean scores of physical functioning, Vitality and total Physical health with Marital Status meaning that in single teachers the score was higher (P < 0.05). The mean scores of teachers in this study were significantly lower than the Iranian general population (5) for all dimensions of QOL, except for mental health and emotional limitations (P < 0.05).
Discussion: The result of this study showes that the highest sub-score is related to physical functioning and the lowest was related to vitality. Another study confirmed this results (6, 7). In our study there was no association between mean scores of total and subscales quality of life with age. And this is compatible with the results of a similar study in Indian teachers (8). Also, there was a positive association between mean scores of mental health sub scale with teaching experience, it might be because as work experience goes up, self-steam increases. Also there was a positive association between mean scores of physical functioning, Vitality and total Quality of Life with Marital Status (P < 0.05). It’s higher in single teachers, as married teachers have more responsibilities (9, 10). This study showed that in all sections of quality of life, teachers had a lower score compared to the Tehran general population. This difference was significant (P value<0.001), except for emotional limitations and mental health subscales. Therefore, Results were consistence with previous studies (11, 12). Probably, this could be attributed to the demanding work environment of teachers compared to the general population of Tehran, These results were consistence with the results of the study of Young in China (2009, 2011). The present study bears the limitations that it is characterized by cross-sectional research based on self-reported measures, so one cannot derive any conclusions on the causality of the associations observed between QOL and independent variable. Additionally, subjects were from 10th and 11th district of Tehran, which may limit the generalizability. However, despite the above limitations, this study has notable strong points. Firstly, the sample size was large. Secondly, there was a high valid response rate.
Conclusion
This study showed that in all sections of quality of life, teachers significantly had a lower score compared to the Tehran general population. Except for emotional limitations and mental health subscales. Teachers should be given more help to improve their QOL and well-being. It is a good idea that proper recreational activities are offered for teachers and their families. Further researches are required to investigate the causes of poor physical and social condition of teachers.
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