Abstract
Mental disorders are the main cause of the young and economically active population worldwide and in Brazil to live with disabilities, being an important public health problem nowadays. The objective was to estimate the burden of mental disorders among professionals working to combat endemic diseases in a state in northeastern Brazil. Medical records of workers linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Health in Ceará State and fighting endemic diseases were surveyed and, from this, a historical cohort was made. The individual quantification of absenteeism by mental disorders (ICD F-chapter referring to mental disorders) was conducted considering a period of about 35 years, from admission (the 1980s) to December 2017. The global burden of disease was measured by the YLD indicator (years lost to disability). Considering that no deaths due to mental disorders were observed, the YLL indicator (years of life lost) was composed. The high mental disorders burden in this group of workers stands out, whose mood disorders, including depression, conferred a YLD equal to 18.6. This represents just over 18 years of work lived with a disability. Our findings reinforce the need to implement surveillance and health promotion actions in workers to promote effective interventions capable of contributing to the reduction of morbidity in workers and economically active people.
Highlights
Mental disorders represent an important problem for public health
According to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, mental disorders have been the second leading cause of years lived with disability (YLD) in the world 1, affecting the young and economically active population, 15 to 49 years 1, and negatively impacting the health of workers
Public workers linked to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, located in the state of Ceará and whose occupation is related to fighting endemic diseases, were selected
Summary
Mental disorders represent an important problem for public health. According to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, mental disorders have been the second leading cause of years lived with disability (YLD) in the world 1, affecting the young and economically active population, 15 to 49 years 1, and negatively impacting the health of workers.Evidence of the association of mental disorders with occupational hazards in some professional activities exist, including health workers 2. Mental disorders represent an important problem for public health. According to the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, mental disorders have been the second leading cause of years lived with disability (YLD) in the world 1, affecting the young and economically active population, 15 to 49 years 1, and negatively impacting the health of workers. Evidence of the association of mental disorders with occupational hazards in some professional activities exist, including health workers 2. Agents fighting endemics are health professionals involved in public health campaigns whose assignments involve several occupational risks such as actions in vacant lots, inspection of water tanks, and vector control with insecticides 3. Mental disorders such as anxiety and stress are prevalent in health professionals and related to feelings of dissatisfaction and devaluation and high demands 2,6. Several doubts remain to be clarified regarding the relationship between work and mental disorders; investigating the mental disorders burden in working populations is necessary, since these causes have increasingly motivated disability benefits within social security in Brazil 7
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