Burnout syndrome and minor mental disorders in public employees.

Abstract

The context of transformations the society has been going through, especially considering economic, political, and technological issues, has added strains to modern work relations. This study aimed to assess the existence and levels of burnout and the prevalence of minor mental disorders in a sample of public administrative employees of the Social Security Agency of Mato Grosso do Sul, in Brazil. This is a cross-sectional study that used the following research instruments: the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Self-Reporting Questionnaire, and a sociodemographic and occupational questionnaire developed specifically for this study. The results showed a prevalence of 23.7% (n = 9) of suspected cases of minor mental disorders and extremely increased levels (91.4%) of one of the dimensions of burnout: reduced professional efficacy. Employees with suspected minor mental disorders presented higher levels of emotional exhaustion and lower levels of personal accomplishment. In addition to the reported evidence, we expect our findings to contribute to the development of strategies of preventive intervention and health promotion in this occupational sector.