title: [Decisive factors relating to workload in a primary healthcare unit].
abstract: Work-related diseases o either physical or emotional origin have been on the increase in contemporary society in the different work sectors. They have had a profound impact on health professionals, such as physicians, dentists, nurses, nursing assistants and administrative assistants in the primary healthcare units. This study aimed to establish the decisive factors relating to workload, seeking to identify possible relations between the working conditions and their potential impact on worker health. Thirty-one individuals comprised the sample, namely 12 physicians, 3 dentists, 1 nurse, 9 nursing assistants, 3 dental assistants and 3 business assistants at a PHU (Primary Healthcare Unit) in a city in the interior of the State of São Paulo. For the data collection, structured interviews were conducted through meetings with the specific groups of workers, such that a detailed description of the activities performed by each group could be drafted, as well as a survey of the problems and desirable features involved. The results indicated the presence of physical, cognitive and psychological demands; inadequate communication processes; obsolete equipment; excessive number of users and an inefficient structure to deal with absenteeism.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Educação Especial, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Marília, SP, Brazil. nilson@marilia.unesp.br
authors.forename: Nilson Rogério
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: da Silva
mesh_terms: D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012307:Risk Factors; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*