ABSENTEEISM DUE TO MENTAL DISORDERS IN A MUNICIPALITY IN THE INTERIOR OF ALAGOAS

Abstract

Introduction: Work-related diseases cause high absenteeism rates and their occurrence has been increasing gradually and because they cause great impact on the economy of the countries. Objective: To identify the prevalence of absenteeism due to mental disorders in servers in the municipality of Arapiraca-AL, from January to December 2013. Methodology: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach. For this, we analyzed all the records used in the situation of work clearance of the municipal servants of Arapiraca in the Medical Board. Results: The study subjects were 816 public servants from the municipality of Arapiraca-AL, away from work from January to December 2013. For data analysis, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences-SPSS (version 20) was used. The present study showed that most professionals away from work were female (693 – 84.9%), married (426 – 52.2%), lived in rural areas (116 – 14.2%) and were permanent employees (627 – 76.8%). Education configured the stocking organ most affected by absenteeism at work (474 – 58.1%) represented by the post of teacher (281 – 34.4%). The absence of mental disorders occupied the fourth most frequent cause (151 – 18.5%) among the various reasons for distancing from work and the depressive episode was the mental disorder that stood out in relation to the others (19 – 12.6%). Conclusion: The high rate of absenteeism due to mental disorders evidences the need for a new look at the mental health of workers in order to develop strategies for immediate intervention.