Prevalência de transtornos mentais em profissionais da atenção básica de um município mineiro

Abstract

Health work has been pinpointed as an occupational activity that causes significant stress. The specific nature of care in health services, the demands of the work and the lack of recognition, especially in the public sector, expose health workers to stress. The aims of this study were to ascertain the mental health status of primary care professionals in the city of Leopoldina-MG; to describe the incidence of mental disorders according to sociodemographic, behavioural and morbidity characteristics and the incidence of mental disorders according to occupational relationship characteristics and working conditions; to compare the occurrence of mental disorders according to professional category and the incidence of mental disorders according to the region/district of the Primary Health Unit. A cross-sectional epidemiological study was carried out with 120 workers from Primary Health Care units in the city of Leopoldina-MG. Data collection took place from 10 April to 10 May 2024. The levels of suspicion of CMDs (common mental disorders) among the interviewees were considered the outcome (dependent variable) and were obtained using the adapted version of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20). The independent variables were grouped into sociodemographic, behavioural, morbidity and work variables. The free statistical package R version 4.4.0 was used to analyse the data. Initially, a descriptive analysis of the outcome and exposures was carried out, using their absolute (n) and relative (%) frequencies. The synthetic variables deriving from the SRQ-20, IPQ and JSS scales were then constructed. To check for associations between the outcome and the exposures, a bivariate analysis was performed using Pearson's chi-squared test. A multivariate analysis was then performed by means of logistic regression to obtain the odds ratios and their respective 95% confidence intervals. The variables were studied at 1%, 5% and 10% significance levels, depending on the p-value calculated. A 39.16% prevalence of suspected CMDs was identified among the workers assessed. There was a predominance of women: 89.16% (n=107); 40% in the 40-50 age group; 54.2% declared themselves to be black or brown; 79.2% had an income of up to four minimum wages; 44% had higher education. As for the characteristics of behaviour and morbidity, the use of medication had a prevalence of 51.32%, tobacco use 33.33%, alcohol use 36.25%, use of social networks 39.5%, use of health services 20% and diagnosis of illness 26.67%. The data indicates that this is a population that has been with the company for a long time, with a predominance of formal statutory employment ties and a preponderance of no other employment attachments. The variables associated with suspected CMDs were walking days (p-value 0.031), freedom of expression (p-value 0.025), relevance of work (p-value 0.021), opportunity for growth (p-value 0.019), equity of tasks (p-value 0.011), use of medication (p-value 0.003) and work-family balance (p-value 0.000). It was concluded that the high prevalence of suspected CMDs in the study population and the correlation with work and morbidity variables can have individual and social consequences, reinforcing the need for early identification in order to guide individual and collective interventions.