Major depressive episode in hospital workers during the Covid-19 pandemic in Brazil

OBJECTIVES: To estimate prevalence and factors associated with major depressive episode (MDE), emphasizing occupational aspects, in workers of a public teaching hospital that is a reference for Covid-19 treatment. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out between October and December 2020, after the first peak of the pandemic, interviewing 1155 workers. The prevalence of MDE was estimated using the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) algorithm. Multivariate hierarchical analysis was conducted using Poisson regression to assess associated factors. RESULTS: MDE prevalence was 15.3% (95%CI: 13.3–17.5) and was higher among young, white and female workers, those with a family history of depression, resident professionals, nursing professionals, workers who were exposed to three or more situations of moral dilemma, and those who had to put off a physiological need until later. Having a risk factor for Covid-19, being a smoker and being physically inactive were also positively associated with MDE. CONCLUSIONS: The study points to the considerable prevalence of MDE among tertiary health care workers; reviewing work processes is essential to reduce occupational stress and minimize the effects of the pandemic on mental health, preventing those problems from becoming chronic

Association between workplace bullying and common mental disorders in civil servants from a middle-income country

Workplace bullying (WB) is associated with Common mental disorders (CMD) in high-income countries, but there is a lack of evidence relating to this subject in low- and middle-income countries. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between bullying and CMD in Brazil. A cross-sectional study with 907 judicial civil servants from Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, was carried out. WB was measured by the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ-r) and CMD by the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20). Logistic regression was used to analyse data and test hypotheses. The overall prevalence of CMD was 32.8%, while the overall prevalence of bullying was 18.3%. WB was strongly associated with CMD, even after controlling for confounders. After adjustment for sociodemographic, personality and occupational confounders, weekly and daily exposures to negative acts increased 4.32 (95% CI: 2.00-9.33) and 6.80 (95% CI: 3.42-13.51) times the risk of CMD, respectively. Considering the operational definition, bullied workers had a 3.45 (95% CI: 2.26-5.25) higher risk of CMD. The results are consistent with studies from high-income countries. Different ways of categorising exposure to WB and testing association with CMD are suggested. Interventions to prevent bullying, focusing on work processes and psychosocial factors at work, could reduce the risk of mental health problems

O cão como aspecto motivador de crianças com transtorno do espectro autismo

Com objetivo de verificar se a presença do cão na sessão terapêutica com crianças com TEA seria um aspecto motivador, foi realizado um estudo com 24 crianças na faixa etária de três a dez anos. Os resultados obtidos neste estudo foram tabulados e analisados de maneira inferencial, e a diferença entre as médias do tempo de reação foi utilizado o teste Mann Whitney. As diferenças significativas foram comprovadas através de um p-valor ≤0,005. Este estudo demonstrou que as crianças do grupo controle apresentam uma média maior de tempo de reação à sessão em relação às do grupo experimental

Meios e qualidade da educação sexual de jovens: um estudo exploratório por meio da internet

Este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar os meios de educação sexual e a percepção da qualidade desta informação, de jovens de 14 a 24 anos, predominantemente residentes do município de Pelotas/RS

Frequência do uso da pornografia antes e durante a pandemia de COVID-19 por jovens de 14 a 24 anos

O objetivo deste trabalho é fazer uma análise descritiva da frequência do uso de pornografia e avaliar o aumento da pornografia durante a pandemia de COVID-19 através de uma pesquisa feita com jovens de 14 a 24 anos majoritariamente na cidade de Pelotas/RS

Work overload faced by caregivers assisting frequenters of a psychosocial care center for children and adolescents in the south of Brazil.

O objetivo deste artigo é comparar as médias de sobrecarga de cuidadores de usuários do Centro de Atenção Psicossocial infanto-juvenil (CAPSi) da cidade de Pelotas (RS) em relação à saúde mental de crianças e adolescentes e a do próprio cuidador. Estudo transversal realizado com o principal cuidador do usuário do CAPSi. A sobrecarga foi avaliada pela escala Zarit Burden Interview e os problemas de saúde mental dos usuários através da Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Para verificar a presença de possíveis transtornos mentais comuns (TMC) nos cuidadores, utilizou-se o questionário Self-Report Questionnaire (SRQ-20). Foi utilizado o Teste t e ANOVA para análise dos dados. As médias de sobrecarga foram significativamente mais altas nos cuidadores de usuários com problemas de conduta (p = 0,000), hiperatividade (p = 0,001) e problemas de relacionamento com colegas (p = 0,001). Também foram significativamente maiores entre aqueles classificados como possíveis casos de TMC (p = 0,000); entre as mulheres (p = 0,032) e os que já tiveram problemas na Justiça e/ou Conselho Tutelar (p = 0,039) envolvendo o usuário. Salienta-se a importância de trabalhos destinados aos cuidadores visando melhorar a qualidade do cuidado e da vida dos mesmos

Child Labor in Family Tobacco Farms in Southern Brazil: Occupational Exposure and Related Health Problems

Tobacco farming is considered Hazardous Child Labor in Brazil. This study examined the work of children and adolescents in tobacco farming, characterizing the level of urinary cotinine and the occurrence of Green Tobacco Sickness (GTS), pesticide poisoning, respiratory symptoms, and musculoskeletal disorders. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted with a random sample of tobacco growers under 18 years old in Southern Brazil. Ninety-nine young people were interviewed at 79 family farms. The majority began working in agriculture before they were 14 and worked harvesting and tying hands of tobacco; 60% were 16 or 17 years old, and 51.5% were male. During their lifetime, 24.5% reported GTS, and 3% reported pesticide poisoning. In the previous year, 29.3% reported low back pain, 6.1% wheezing, and 16.2% coughing without having a cold. Half of the 12 young people evaluated had over 100 ng/mL of urinary cotinine. The study indicates that child laborers do various activities and present a high prevalence of health problems. Health workers should be trained to identify child laborers and their impacts on health. Full-time farm schools could provide knowledge about sustainable agricultural production, reducing the rates of age-grade mismatch, without taking young people away from rural areas

The Role of Workplace Bullying in Low Back Pain: A Study With Civil Servants From a Middle-Income Country.

This is a cross-sectional study that analysed the association between workplace bullying and LBP. The participants were 894 judicial civil servants from Porto Alegre, southern Brazil. Workplace Bullying was measured by the Negative Acts Questionnaire (NAQ-r) and Low Back Pain by the Nordic Questionnaire for Musculoskeletal Symptoms (NQMS). Logistic Regression was used to analyse data and test hypotheses. The prevalence of LBP in the last 7 days was 50.1%, while the overall prevalence of Chronic LBP was 19.3%. Some psychosocial factors at work were strongly associated with both outcomes. Workplace bullying was strongly associated with LBP, even after adjustment for several covariates. The odds of LBP in the last 7 days among bullied workers was 1.89 (95% CI: 1.31-2.71) times higher, compared to non-bullied. Workplace bullying was also associated with chronic LBP after adjustment for sociodemographic, behavioural and some occupational factors (OR = 1.60; 95% CI: 1.05-2.44). Psychosocial factors at work, and particularly workplace bullying, were strong risk factors for LBP, in contrast to most individual factors, and dose-response patterns were showed. Positive associations between bullying and LBP raise hypotheses on causation, and the role of psychosocial factors at work are discussed. Further longitudinal studies should address these hypotheses, investigating causal paths, mechanisms and possible mediation. PERSPECTIVES: As a psychosocial risk, workplace bullying may play a role in low back pain and can be focus of interventions to prevent LBP. Dose-response patterns on the association between workplace bullying and low back pain are discussed and hypotheses are raised. The paper addresses different ways of measuring and categorising bullying at work, in order to study the relationship between bullying and pain