Age effect on the life quality and health of garbage collectors of an association in Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Workers that segregate recyclable garbage are daily exposed to unhealthy work conditions which can have a more intense negative effect with aging of the garbage collector. A population of garbage collectors from Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, Brazil answered a semi-structured questionnaire regarding the presence or absence of labor pain, pain intensity, living conditions, access to health services, occurrence of accidents at works and degree of personal satisfaction. These variables were correlated with the age of the workers. It was observed that pain is not associated to age increase and that it doesn't affect the degree of personal satisfaction of the studied population. The education degree was negatively related with age. The youngest garbage collectors presented a lower degree of life satisfaction. The age of the workers doesn't have any association with the occurrence of accidents at work and dwelling type.