P-470 Association between occupational stress and depressive symptoms among healthcare workers in north-eastern Brazil: a pre-pandemic scenario

Abstract

<h3>Introduction</h3> Healthcare workers (HCW) have been reported to be at high risk for several mental health problems due to occupational stress. The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 raised new concerns about the mental health of HCW workers, which may be affected by new demands and the organization of work. Studies comparing pre- and post-pandemic work environments in health settings are necessary to evaluate the effect of the pandemic on HCW’s mental health. <h3>Objectives</h3> We aimed to investigate the association between occupation stress and depressive symptoms among HCW in a city in northeastern Brazil at the end of 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak. <h3>Methods</h3> This is a cross-sectional study with a representative sample of 355 HCW from a city in northeastern Brazil. Occupational stress, based on the demand-control model, was measured by the Job Content Questionnaire (JCQ), and depressive symptoms were evaluated by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Poisson regressions were used to estimate prevalence ratios (PR) and to analyse associations of interest. <h3>Results</h3> The prevalence of depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 ≥ 9) was 22.4%. Occupational stress was strongly associated with the outcome. In the crude analyses, the prevalence of depression symptoms among workers eposed to high job strain was 3.54 (95% CI: 1.60–6.90) times that of those with low strain. After adjustment for sex, age and income, the prevalence ratio remained highly significant (PR=3.34; 95%CI: 1.80–6.18). <h3>Conclusions</h3> Occupational stress was a strong risk factor for depressive symptoms in a pre-pandemic scenario. The prevalence of depressive symptoms is expected to increase during the pandemic. Assessing occupational stress and depression during follow-up over the next few years may elucidate the impact of the pandemic on work processes and on HCW’s mental health.