Association between dental pain and absenteeism among public workers from Southeastern Brazil

Miotto, Maria Helena Monteiro de Barros; Lima, Wadson José Gonçalves; Barcellos, Ludmilla Awad

doi:10.5935/1806-0013.20140038

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ORIGINAL ARTICLES • Rev. dor 15 (3) • Jul-Sep 2014 • https://doi.org/10.5935/1806-0013.20140038 copy

Association between dental pain and absenteeism among public workers from Southeastern Brazil^* * Received from Federal Univesrity of Espírito Santo, Vila Velha, ES, Brazil.

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

Studies carried out worldwide have shown that the incidence of dental pain is one reason leading people to look for dental services and that it impairs quality of life. This study aimed at observing the prevalence of dental pain, pain-related absenteeism and possible associations with sociodemographic characteristics.

METHODS:

This was an analytical, observational and transversal study using a randomized sample of 312 public servants obtained from a universe of 994 employees of the City Hall of Marataízes, ES. A structured script with 27 items was used for data collection, which was carried out between May and June 2009, by three qualified servants. Chi-square and Fisher Exact tests were used to compare dental pain percentages and absenteeism to sociodemographic factors.

RESULTS:

The prevalence of dental pain among employees was 57.0%, with higher prevalence among those with socioeconomic condition C/D/E (OR= 1.560). From those reporting dental pain, 17.8% have missed work, with higher prevalence of those of socioeconomic condition C/D/E (OR= 3.816) and with incomplete high school (OR= 2.298).

CONCLUSION:

High dental pain prevalence was observed and enough to produce absenteeism, with higher frequency among workers of less favored economic classes and with lower education level.

Absenteeism; Dental pain; Worker's health

Characteristics		n	%
Total		286	100.0
Gender
	Male	103	36.0
	Female	183	64.0
Age group (years)
	18 - 30	63	22.0
	31 - 40	123	43.0
	41 - 50	80	28.0
	51 or above	20	7.0
Marital status
	Single	59	20.6
	Married	175	61.2
	Cohabitating	32	11.2
	Divorced	20	7.0
Education level
	Incomplete elementary school	39	13.6
	Complete elementary school	21	7.4
	Incomplete high school	14	4.9
	Complete high school	95	33.2
	Incomplete college	41	14.3
	Complete college	76	26.6
Family income
	Less than 1 minimum wage	7	2.4
	1 to 2 minimum wages	125	43.7
	3 to 5 minimum wages	127	44.4
	6 to 10 minimum wages	21	7.3
	Above 10 minimum wages	6	2.2
Socioeconomic condition
	A	10	3.5
	B	79	27.6
	C	174	60.8
	D	18	6.3
	E	5	1.8

Characteristics		n	%
Pain
	Yes	163	57.0
	No	123	43.0
Looked for dental assistance
	Yes	65	39.9
	No	98	60.1
Type of service
	Health unit	31	47.7
	Fake professional	4	6.2
	Private	29	44.6
	Other	1	1.5
Number of visits to dental service
	Once	30	46.2
	Twice	18	27.6
	Three times or more	17	26.2
Reason for not using the serviced
	Fear	3	3.1
	Felt no need	46	46.9
	Was not allowed	9	9.2
	Lack of money	12	12.2
	Could not schedule visit	3	3.1
	Other reason	1	1.0
	Has not justified	24	24.5

Characteristics		n	%
Absence from work due to pain
	Yes	29	17.8
	No	134	82.2
Absence from work
	One shift	16	55.3
	One day	11	37.9
	Two to three days	2	6.8
Productivity at work with toothache
	Paid no attention to tasks	9	6.7
	Postponed tasks to next Day	8	6.0
	Failed to carry out tasks	10	7.5
	Has not justified	107	79.9

Characteristics		Pain		No pain		p-value	Odds Ratio
Characteristics		n	%	n	%	p-value	Odds Ratio
Gender
	Male	58	56.3	45	43.7	0.479	1.044
	Female	105	57.4	78	42.6		0.641-1.700
Age group (years)
	Up to 40	112	60.2	74	39.8	0.085	1.454
	41 or above	51	51.0	49	49.0		0.891-2.373
Socioeconomic class
	A/B	44	49.4	45	50.6	0.054	1.560
	C/D/E	119	60.4	78	39.6		0.942-2.583
Family income
	Up to 2 minimum wages	76	57.6	56	42.4	0.474	1.045
	Up to 2 minimum wages						0.653-1.672
	Above 2 minimum wages	87	56.5	67	43.5
	Above 2 minimum wages
Education level
	Incomplete high school	48	64.9	26	35.1	0.073	1.557
	Incomplete high school						0.900-2.695
	Complete high school or above	115	54.2	97	45.8
	Complete high school or above

Characteristics		Absence from work		No absence		p-value	Odds Ratio
Characteristics		n	%	n	%	p-value	Odds Ratio
Gender
	Male	10	17.2	48	82.8	0.536	1.060
	Female	19	18.1	86	81.9		0.456-2.463
Age group (years)
	Up to 40	23	20.5	89	79.5	0.126	1.938
	41 or above	6	11.8	45	88.2		0.737-5.099
Socioeconomic class
	A/B	3	6.8	41	93.2	0.018	3.816
	C/D/E	26	21.8	93	78.2		1.094-13.33
Family income
	Up to 2 minimum wages	17	22.4	59	77.6	0.111	1.801
	Up to 2 minimum wages						0.798-4.064
	Above 2 minimum wages	12	13.8	75	86.2
	Above 2 minimum wages
Education level
	Incomplete high school	13	27.1	35	72.9	0.040	2.298
	High school or above	16	13.9	99	86.1		1.005-5.255
Type of dental service
	Health unit	10	32.3	21	67.7	0.405	1.323
	Private/others	9	26.5	25	73.5		0.453-3.861
Visits to dental service
	Once	6	20.0	24	80.0	0.107	2.364
	More than once	13	37.1	22	62.9		0.765-7.299

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[1] Correspondence to: Maria Helena Monteiro de Barros Miotto, Av. Marechal Campos 1468 - Maruípe, 29040-091 Vitória, ES, Brasil. E-mail: mhmiotto@terra.com.br

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Association between dental pain and absenteeism among public workers from Southeastern Brazil* * Received from Federal Univesrity of Espírito Santo, Vila Velha, ES, Brazil.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

METHODS:

RESULTS:

CONCLUSION:

Association between dental pain and absenteeism among public workers from Southeastern Brazil^* * Received from Federal Univesrity of Espírito Santo, Vila Velha, ES, Brazil.