Stress, depression, quality of life and salivary cortisol levels in community health agents.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of and factors associated with depression and stress with perceived quality of life and the salivary cortisol levels in Community Health Agent (CHA). Materials and Methods Cross-sectional descriptive study of CHAs in Pelotas-RS, Brazil. Data collection, including sociodemographic information and factors related to work and health. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) II was used to assess depressive symptoms, Inventory of Stress Symptoms Lipp (ISSL) was used for the analysis of stress and the WHOQOL-BREF was used to investigate quality of life. Salivary cortisol was quantified via ELISA test. RESULTS: The assessments showed that 71.0% are in a state of stress resistance, 30.5% were in the alert state of stress and 32.8% were in the stress state of exhaustion. Depressive episodes (BDI≥12) were observed in 28.2%. The environmental domain had the lowest score for quality of life. We observed significantly higher salivary cortisol levels in CHAs with less than 1 year of service and with the lowest quality of life scores in the environmental subsection. CONCLUSION: A high prevalence of stress and depression was observed in this sample of CHAs. In addition, the worst levels of quality of life were identified in the environmental subsection. Cortisol levels corroborate these findings regarding quality of life within the environmental domain and began working less than a year previously.

Mental disorders among health workers in Brazil / Transtornos mentais entre trabalhadores da área da saúde no Brasil

Abstract The scope of this article is to deter mine the prevalence of common mental disorders (CMD) and Depression among Community Health Agents (CHA) and employees of Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS). It is a cross-sectional descriptive study involving the target population of Community Health Workers and Psychosocial Care Center workers, linked to the Municipal Health Department of Pelotas in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul. The presence of common mental disorders was considered when the Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ) was > 7 and the occurrence of depression when BDI > 12. In total, 257 professionals participated in the study. Among mental health professionals (n = 119), the prevalence of CMDs was 25.2% and depression was 23.5%, while the prevalence of CMDs was 48.6% and depression was 29% among CHA (n = 138). The ratio of CMDs between the two groups of professionals was statistically different (p < 0.001). In this study, it was observed that the CAPS professionals are more adapted to work issues, with less perceived health problems arising from work and with a lower prevalence of mental disorders compared to CHA.

Resumo Este artigo tem por objetivo verificar a prevalência de transtornos mentais comuns (TMC) e Depressão entre Agentes Comunitários de Saúde (ACS) e trabalhadores dos Centros de Atenção Psicossocial (CAPS). Estudo descritivo transversal, tendo como população alvo os Agentes Comunitários de Saúde e os trabalhadores dos Centros de Atenção Psicossocial, vinculados à Secretaria Municipal de Saúde de Pelotas, RS, Brasil. A presença de transtornos mentais comuns foi considerada quando o Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ) > 7 e a ocorrência de depressão quando Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI II) > 12. No total, 257 profissionais participaram do estudo. Dentre os profissionais da saúde mental (n = 119), a prevalência de TMC foi de 25,2% e de depressão de 23,5%. Já a prevalência de TMC foi de 48,6% e de depressão de 29,0% entre os ACS (n = 138). A proporção de TMC entre os dois grupos de profissionais foi estatisticamente diferente (p < 0.001). Neste estudo, pode-se observar que os profissionais dos CAPS estão mais adaptados às questões laborais, percebem-se com menor prejuízo para a saúde decorrente do trabalho e também apresentaram menor prevalência de transtornos mentais quando comparados aos ACS.

Mental disorders among health workers in Brazil.

The scope of this article is to deter mine the prevalence of common mental disorders (CMD) and Depression among Community Health Agents (CHA) and employees of Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS). It is a cross-sectional descriptive study involving the target population of Community Health Workers and Psychosocial Care Center workers, linked to the Municipal Health Department of Pelotas in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul. The presence of common mental disorders was considered when the Self Report Questionnaire (SRQ) was > 7 and the occurrence of depression when BDI > 12. In total, 257 professionals participated in the study. Among mental health professionals (n = 119), the prevalence of CMDs was 25.2% and depression was 23.5%, while the prevalence of CMDs was 48.6% and depression was 29% among CHA (n = 138). The ratio of CMDs between the two groups of professionals was statistically different (p < 0.001). In this study, it was observed that the CAPS professionals are more adapted to work issues, with less perceived health problems arising from work and with a lower prevalence of mental disorders compared to CHA.

Prevalence of depression symptoms and serum levels of interleukin-6 in hemodialysis patients.

AIM: In hemodialysis patients, depression appears as the most common psychopathological condition. States of advanced chronic kidney disease and dialysis are associated with a state of chronic inflammation. Depression has been linked to activation of the immune system characterized by high levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. In this study, we investigated the possible correlations between depression, and interleukin-6 (IL-6) in hemodialysis patients. METHODS: Seventy-five hemodialysis patients were enrolled in a cross-sectional study from September to November 2011 in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul. Demographic data were obtained from a questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to determine the presence or absence of depression symptoms. Biochemical parameters, dialysisdosage delivery, and IL-6 serum levels were measured. RESULTS: Prevalence of depression among hemodialysis patients was 48% (BDI ≥ 14). In biochemical assessments, depressed patients showed a decrease in urea (P = 0.01) and increase of IL-6 (P = 0.04) levels. The correlation analysis between BDI scores and the biochemical variables showed that BDI was negatively correlated with urea (P = 0.03) and potassium (P = 0.04), but not with IL-6 levels. CONCLUSION: Hemodialysis patients with depression showed higher levels of IL-6 but the severity of depressive symptoms was not correlated with levels of this cytokine.