Teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic: working conditions and mental health of higher education professionals

Authors

Keywords:

mental health, teleworking, pandemic, worker's health, university

Abstract

Introduction: Telework became a widely adopted practice during the COVID-19 pandemic, transforming working conditions across various sectors, including higher education. This scenario presented significant challenges for professionals, such as adapting to new technologies, increased workloads, and difficulties in balancing personal and professional life.

Objective: To evaluate mental health, teleworking conditions and the difficulties faced by higher education professionals in the context of teleworking during the pandemic.

Methods: Cross-sectional, quantitative study, developed with 99 higher education professionals from a Public University in Minas Gerais, Brazil, who worked remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. Data collection was carried out using the Inventory of Assessment of the Mental Health of Teleworkers. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential analysis, using Person's ji-square test and Poisson Regression, with a significance level of 5%.

Results: The majority of workers were female, with an average age of 42.7 years, with an average family income of 9,452 reais, belonging to the teaching category, working between 5 and 8 hours a day. Workers stated that the pace of work was excessive (32%), they were under pressure (35%), demands for results (34%), rigid tasks (41%), they had no rest (38%) and that the home environment it was uncomfortable (44%). In the mental health assessment, 85% of them felt distressed, exhausted, stressed, anxious and/or overwhelmed when teleworking. The variables: smoking and teaching professional category were associated with work organization (p < 0.05). The variables: income, smoking and teaching professional category were associated with the mental health of professionals (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: there was an important impact of teleworking on the physical and mental health of workers, therefore, it is important to think about better living and working conditions for this professional category.

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References

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Published

2025-02-13

How to Cite

1.
Santos SVM dos, de Sá SOC, Chaves MFB, Ribeiro BM dos SS, Alves LD, da Silva PG, et al. Teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic: working conditions and mental health of higher education professionals. Rev. cuba. inf. cienc. salud [Internet]. 2025 Feb. 13 [cited 2025 Apr. 8];36. Available from: https://acimed.sld.cu/index.php/acimed/article/view/2836

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Vol. 36 (2025): PUBLICACIÓN CONTINUA

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Copyright (c) 2025 Sergio Valverde Marques dos Santos, Stephanie Oliveira Cardoso de Sá, Matheus Felipe Botelho Chaves, Beatriz Maria dos Santos Santiago Ribeiro, Leslie Diniz Alves, Policardo Gonçalves da Silva, Luiz Almeida da Silva

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