Vida de mÃdico e o ofÃcio da medicina: estudo sobre a saÃde mental do mÃdico, seu cotidiano de trabalho e estilo de vida

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2005

RESUMO

The lack of autonomy, sleep deprivation, excessive work load and having to deal with illness, pain or death on a daily basis constitute risk factors to the mental health of physicians. Nonetheless, there have been few studies carried out in Brazil and particularly in the state of Pernambuco with physicians in public emergency services. The aim of the present descriptive prevalence study was to compare the day-to-day workload, lifestyle and prevalence of Common Mental Disorders (CMDs) among physicians that exercise their professional activities in the emergency service with those of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and infirmaries of a state-run general emergency hospital in the city of Recife in 2004. A questionnaire elaborated for the present study was used, along with the SRQ-20, which has been validated in Pernambuco for identifying CMDs. CMDs are characterized by symptoms such as insomnia, fatigue, irritability, forgetfulness, difficulty in concentration and somatic complaints. The physicians from the emergency service were younger (p<0.0001), had up to 2 children (p=0.004), worked for the State (p<0.0001) and received up to 5 times the minimum salary at the hospital in which the study was carried out (p<0.0001). Emergency physicians worked at the service for less than 10 years (p<0.0001), were on duty physicians (p<0.0001), had no freedom to choose their working hours (p<0.0001), had multiple jobs (p=0.004), and had a greater weekly workload (≥71 hours) (p=0.007). Emergency physicians also presented a greater sensation of being overworked (95.74%, p=0.015), and a large proportion among them (38.0%; p=0.05) regretted choosing medicine as a profession, feeling unsatisfied in the hospital studied (90.0%) (p<0.0001). They find their work difficult (54.0%; p=0.407), and dealing with death difficult as well (72.92%; p=0.163). They are unsatisfied with their sleeping hours (67.35%; p=0.03) and complain of health problems (60.42%; p=0.416). The emergency service was identified as the sector with the highest prevalence of CMDs (32.00%) in comparison to the ICU (17.65%) and the infirmaries (17.54%) at the same hospital. The emergency service was also characterized by physicians experiencing the worst day-to-day working conditions and care for their own health, as it was observed that there was no habit in this sector of physicians undergoing medical check-ups. It is believed that a greater control over work, greater participation in the institution, better day-to-day working conditions and a team with more ties between its members would alleviate suffering and would also offer greater emotional support to physicians, helping them to deal with pain and death on a daily basis, the stress of which is accentuated in the emergency service by precarious working conditions. The importance of this study and its results highlight the pressing need for greater mental health care among physicians, as well as among all health professional subjected to work in public emergency rooms

ASSUNTO(S)

transtornos mentais comuns condiÃÃes de trabalho working conditions mÃdicos common mental disorders saude coletiva physicians

ACESSO AO ARTIGO

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