Occupational stress in primary care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: mixed methods study

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the risk of exposure to occupational stress among primary healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic and their perception regarding their experience. Method: mixed-methods sequential explanatory study with 50 primary care professionals. Sociodemographic, clinical, and labor questionnaires, Job Stress Scale, and semi-structured interviews were used. Quantitative data were submitted to descriptive and analytical statistical analysis; qualitative data were submitted to Thematic Content Analysis. Results: 66% of professionals were exposed to occupational stress. Doctors were associated with highly demanding work (p<0.001); nurses, nursing technicians, and dental professionals with active work (p<0.001); and dentists with lower psychological demand (p<0.001). Professionals with more than sixteen years of experience had better conditions to deal with stressful factors, compared to those with less than five years (p<0.03). Data integration showed implications of the pandemic in life, work, and interfaces with psychological symptoms. Conclusion: professionals worked under high psychological demands and a high risk of exposure to stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Self-control and high social support may contribute to reducing these risks, as well as professional training and experience.

Challenges of safety culture in Surgical Center: mixed methods study

“…Data integration occurred based on the sequential explanatory approach, allowing the connection between quantitative and qualitative elements, in order to complement each other and allow a holistic understanding of the phenomenon under study, and verify whether or not the qualitative data converged with the quantitative data ( 19 ) . For data complementarity, inferences obtained from the FG were explored.…”

“…La integración de datos se produjo con base en el enfoque explicativo secuencial, permitiendo la conexión entre elementos cuantitativos y cualitativos, con el fin de complementarse y permitir una comprensión holística del fenómeno en estudio, y verificar si los datos cualitativos convergían o no con los cuantitativos ( 19 ) . Para la complementariedad de los datos, se exploraron las inferencias obtenidas de los GF.…”

“…A integração dos dados ocorreu a partir da abordagem explanatória sequencial, permitindo a conexão entre elementos quantitativos e qualitativos, a fim de se complementarem e permitirem uma compreensão holística do fenômeno em estudo, e verificar se os dados qualitativos convergiam ou não com os quantitativos ( 19 ) . Para a complementaridade dos dados, foram exploradas as inferências obtidas a partir dos GF.…”