Análise de associação entre estresse ocupacional e a ocorrência de transtornos mentais comuns em bombeiros militares de Manaus

Abstract

Introduction: Occupational stress refers to stimuli in the work environment that require a response, influencing the professional's perception of the demands of the work environment and their ability to face them and, consequently, the worker's mental health. Objective: to analyze the existence of a association between occupational stress and the occurrence of common mental disorders in military firefighters in Manaus. Methods: Observational, analytical, and cross-sectional study, carried out with 252 military firefighters from the Amazonas Military Fire Department, in Manaus. A self-administered and standardized questionnaire was used via Google Forms and sent via email, which assessed sociodemographic data, occupational characteristics, psychosocial aspects of work through the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), and mental suffering through the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, and bivariate analysis allowed for verifying the gross association between the main exposure (occupational stressors) and outcome (CMD), as well as between the covariates and CMD, based on the prevalence ratios ( PR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Pearson's chi-square test allowed statistical significance to be assessed, adopting a p-value ≤ 0.05 and the Student's t-parametric test was used to compare means. Finally, a multivariate analysis was performed using the logistic regression model (MRL). Results: The global prevalence of CMD was 20%, with a higher occurrence among women (41.5%). An association was observed between minor mental disorders and the variables gender (p=0.001), age (p=0.023), education (p=0.007), marital status (p=0.033), length of service (95%CI 0.035), discharge psychological demand (95%CI 1.16 – 4.04), low control over work (95%CI 1.78-6.36), low social support (95%CI 1.35-5.09) and high demand situation (95%CI 1.81 - 7.44). It was found that workers exposed to highly demanding work situations had a prevalence that was approximately 3.67 times higher than workers in non-exposure situations. It should be noted that 63.5% of workers are exposed to occupational stress, to a greater or lesser extent. Conclusion: The results showed a high prevalence of CMD in military firefighters in Manaus and the association between highly demanding situations in the psychosocial aspects of work and minor mental disorders, strengthening the hypothesis that occupational stress is associated with a greater risk of developing common mental disorders. The study enabled knowledge of work situations associated with CMD, as well as identifying the groups most exposed to occupational stress and its effects on mental health, thus highlighting the relevance of occupational stress for mental illness among firefighters in the military.