Mental Health and Work-Related Behaviors in Management of Work Requirements of University Lecturers in Ukraine— An Age Group Comparison

Abstract

Background: There are only a few national and international studies on the health of third-level professor lecturers at universities and colleges. Work-related diseases are important and relevant for occupational medicine. The aim of the study was to examine the mental health and work-related behavior and experience patterns of Ukrainian university lecturers in age group comparisons. Methods: Data were collected from 81 Ukrainian university lecturers (General Health Questionnaire(GHQ-12),QuestionnaireonWork-RelatedBehaviorandExperiencePatterns(AVEM)). The university lecturers were split into 4 age groups. Results: 9.9% of higher education lecturers reported impaired mental health (GHQ-12). In all, 64.8% of the total sample showed AVEM risk patterns. There were differences in age groups (third age group scoring lower than the first age group on the GHQ total score). The first age group had significantly lower opinions of the subjective importance of work on their personal lives compared to the third and fourth age group, while the secondagegrouphadsignificantlyloweropinionscomparedtothefourthagegroup. Allindividuals with impaired mental health in GHQ-12 had AVEM risk patterns. Conclusions: These results offer novelinsightsintothehealthofUkrainianuniversitylecturers. Occupationalhealthcarepractitioners should take them into consideration in order to initiate appropriate interventions.