Transporte, saúde e engajamento profissional: um estudo exploratório de viagens pendulares casa-trabalho

Abstract

To many people, commuting between home and work is one of the most unpleasant daily activities, potentially impacting physical and mental health, as well as worker performance. In the reviewed literature, no studies directly addressing the relationship between commuting variables, health (physical and mental), and worker engagement were found. The latter refers to a positive cognitive state related to work activity. Most studies on the subject focus on organizational aspects. Thus, the general objective of this thesis was to explore the relationships between variables related to commuting between home and work, individual variables related to physical and mental health, and work engagement and its dimensions, considering a sample of Brazilian workers. To this end, an online structured questionnaire was applied to a sample of 298 workers from various Brazilian cities. Participants' health was assessed using the SF-12 questionnaire, generating physical and mental health components. Work engagement was assessed using the UWES-17 scale, which provides scores for total engagement and its dimensions. With the data from this scale, the Categorical Principal Component Analysis (CATPCA) technique was also applied, which is more appropriate when dealing with ordinal qualitative data. Bivariate analyses were conducted to answer some research questions. Relationships between variables were explored through multiple linear and multinomial logistic regression models, with dependent variables being physical and mental health scores, engagement classification and its dimensions, and the engagement score obtained by applying CATPCA. For the health models, no significant associations were found with the parameters associated with commuting variables, contrary to the research hypotheses. For engagement and its dimensions, the variables mode of transportation and the number of days a person needs to commute to work stand out. Both variables showed significant parameters for most multivariate models. This work presented scientific contributions by expanding the state of the art and addressing topics still underexplored in the literature, as well as practical contributions through results that indicate paths for establishing policies and strategies for public authorities and companies, and by raising awareness about the negative impacts of commuting on people's quality of life.