Prevalence and factors associated with violence against high school teachers in Teresina, Piaui, 2016: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: to analyze prevalence of violence against high school teachers and associated factors in Teresina, Piaui, Brazil. METHODS: this was a cross-sectional study using convenience sampling. Data was collected in 2016 in public and private high schools, using a self-administered questionnaire. Prevalence ratios (PR) using Poisson regression and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated. RESULTS: 279 teachers participated, of whom 54.8% (95%CI 48.8;60.7) reported having suffered at least one type of violence. Verbal insults were most prevalent (39.4%; 95%CI 33.7;45.4), positively associated with public schools (PR=1.45; 95%CI 1.00;2.11) and with schools in the city's Eastern region (PR=1.85; 95%CI 1.17;2.93) and Southern region (PR=1.59; 95%CI 1.05;2.41). Sexual harassment was associated with males (PR=2.38; 95%CI 2.02;2.71). CONCLUSION: violence against teachers was higher in public schools in poorer outskirt regions and regions with high indicators of urban violence.