Avaliação do efeito agudo e crônico de exercícios de alongamento sobre o estresse ocupacional, a ansiedade, a dor e a capacidade física de trabalhadores

Abstract

The mental health of workers is a global concern due to the economic and social impacts that affect both individuals and organizations, as well as health and social security systems. Although the benefits of physical exercise for mental health are widely known, there are gaps regarding the specificities and effects of training performed during work hours and in the workplace when aimed at reducing stress, especially among seamstresses. In an attempt to fill these gaps, a systematic review was carried out to verify the effects of physical exercises performed in the workplace on workers' stress. Of the seven studies analyzed, four indicated positive effects on reducing occupational stress. Based on the results obtained, a randomized controlled trial was conducted to analyze the acute and chronic effects of stretching exercises (SE) in the workplace on occupational stress, anxiety, pain, and the physical capacity of seamstresses. The participants were randomly allocated into two groups, namely: i) intervention group (IG), with 22 participants (mean age of 53.05 ± 5.21 years); and ii) control group (CG), with 22 participants (mean age 51.73 ± 5.72 years). Assessments were performed before and after an EA session and at the end of eight weeks of intervention. The intervention consisted of the application of EA in 40-minute sessions, including active and static EA, performed three times a week, totaling 21 EA sessions. The data were processed in statistical software SPSS Statistic, versão 25. Normality was tested by the Shapiro-Wilk test. Possible differences between groups and over time were tested by two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with repeated measures on the time factor, followed by post hoc verification of Bonferroni adjusted and Cohen's effect size (d). The intergroup results for the acute effect demonstrated a significant reduction in pain (p<0.0001) and state anxiety (p=0.007) in the IG compared to the CG. No reduction was observed for trait anxiety (p = 0.939) or occupational stress (p = 0.984). Intergroup analyses regarding the chronic effect indicated positive effects on the variables pain (p<0.001), state anxiety (p<0.001), trait anxiety (p=0.001), and handgrip strength on the right side (p=0.036) and left side (p=0.001) in the IG compared to the CG, which showed worsening over time in all parameters analyzed. The results suggest that AE can reduce pain and anxiety, in addition to improving handgrip strength among seamstresses. However, no significant reduction in occupational stress was observed. Therefore, it is recommended that future research compare different types of interventions and their combinations