Perceived Occupational Health Challenges among College Teachers in Banke District: A Survey Study

Abstract

The health challenges faced by college teachers in their work environments have received limited attention in many countries, including Nepal. This descriptive study aimed to explore the perceived occupational health problems among college teachers in the Banke district of Nepal. A questionnaire, comprising the Subjective Health Complaints (SHC) Inventory, was administered to 96 teachers from two selected colleges using cluster sampling. A total of 80 usable questionnaires were collected and analyzed. The findings revealed that a significant proportion of college teachers (71.25%) reported poor health conditions, with 93.75% (n = 75) of respondents experiencing at least one of the 37 subjective health problems included in the SHC inventory within the past 30 days. The top ten frequently reported work-related subjective health complaints among college teachers included voice disorder, tiredness, leg pain, eyestrain, headache, shoulder pain, neck pain, arm pain, anxiety, and sadness/depression. It is crucial to establish a healthy and teacher-friendly work environment in colleges to safeguard and enhance the health of teachers.

Keywords: college teachers, occupational health problems, subjective health complaints