Risk factors for common mental disorders in health care workers in the city of Diamantina, state of Minas Gerais

Abstract

Introduction: The increased prevalence of mental health symptoms in primary care workers in recent years is a major cause of concern, and highlights the need to identify modifiable risk factors for mental health disorders in this population. Objectives: To analyze the prevalence of common mental disorders and associated factors in primary care workers in the city of Diamantina, state of Minas Gerais. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, exploratory study involving 203 workers in different sectors of primary health care. Participants completed the Self-Report Questionnaire (20 item version), the Job Stress Scale (JSS), and a form with questions regarding sociodemographic factors, occupational characteristics, lifestyle and habits. Results: The prevalence of common mental disorders in the sample was 20.2%. These disorders were significantly associated (p ≤ 0.05) with younger age, poor self-assessed health, poor sleep quality and physically demanding work. Conclusions: Poor working conditions may directly and indirectly affect the occurrence of mental health disorders by influencing lifestyle and habits. The restructuring of organizational norms, together with worker support policies, may positively contribute to the mental health of workers.

Common mental disorders in Primary Health Care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic period: a cross-sectional study in the Northern health macro-region of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, 2021

“…A systematic review and meta-analysis, focusing on health professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Asia, 25 showed that females are more likely to have symptoms of CMDs such as anxiety, depression, insomnia and posttraumatic stress. These results are in line with other studies that evaluated professionals working in PHC, 8 ),( 9 ),( 18 ),( 19 although with PRs higher than those found in the present study. One of the possible explanations for the association between the variable “sex” and the CMDs, in many studies, is related to social characteristics in which, most of the time, females are responsible of doing household chores; many times, even the female professional is the only one responsible for housework and the family, in addition to suffering from gender inequality and lack of equity between women and men in the labor market, suffering from greater work overload and therefore in a condition that make them more susceptible to the risk of developing symptoms of CMDs.…”

“…The overall prevalence of CMDs found among PHC professionals in Montes Claros was similar to that of a survey conducted in 2013, with CHA in the same municipality of Montes Claros; 18 ) and with a percentage higher than that found in a survey conducted in 2017, with primary health care professionals in the municipality of Diamantina, also in Minas Gerais; 19 in addition to that of a study conducted in a 2005 with PHC workers in 41 municipalities in the South and Northeast regions of the country. 9 …”