Saúde mental de agentes comunitários de saúde no contexto da Pandemia da COVID-19

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the mental health of Community Health Agents (CHAs) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a cross-sectional, analytical study carried out in northern Minas Gerais, originating from the project entitled “Working and Health Conditions of Community Health Agents in northern Minas Gerais during the COVID-19 pandemic”, carried out from July to October 2020, with CHAs from northern Minas Gerais. A probabilistic sampling plan was adopted, in which the sample consisted of 1,220 CHAs. CHAs with at least six months of work were included in this study. For data collection, a questionnaire was applied via Google Forms that addressed sociodemographic, occupational, behavioral and health aspects. The dependent variables that gave rise to the articles in this study were "anxiety symptoms", by the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-6); and "depressive symptoms", using the Patient Health Questionnaire - 9 (PHQ-9) instrument, continuous mode. Different analyses were adopted according to the studies. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 24.0. Based on these data, two scientific articles were produced. The first evaluated anxiety symptoms using the STAI-state, with a mean and median of 16 points, and was associated using hierarchical multiple linear regression: female gender (β=-0.073; t=3.153; p=0.002); provision of inadequate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (β=0.076; p=0.001); not regularly consuming healthy foods (β=0.061; p=0.009); regularly consuming unhealthy foods (β=0.079; p<0.001); sleep disorders (β=0.276; p<0.001); fair/poor self-perception of health during the pandemic (β=0.224; p<0.001); dummy intense fear of COVID-19 (β=0.382; p<0.001), dummy moderate fear of COVID-19 (β=0.217; p<0.001). For the second article, depressive symptoms were assessed using the PHQ-9, using the Poisson Prevalence Ratio at the 5% level. The prevalence of depressive symptoms was 36.2%. And the variables that were associated were: female gender (PR: 1.46; 95% CI: 1.10-1.93); age group up to 36 years (PR: 1.34; CI: 1.15-1.56); working hours (PR: 1.38; CI: 1.15-1.65); time working as a CHW (PR: 1.18; CI: 1.01-1.37); self-care (PR: 1.99; CI: 1.24-1.68); self-medication (PR: 1.44; CI: 1.24-1.68); and fear of COVID-19 (PR: 1.79; CI: 1.47-2.17). The mental health of CHAs was compromised during the COVID-19 pandemic, with significant associations with symptoms of anxiety and depressive symptoms. A technical product was produced through an online lecture entitled “Promoting Mental Health and Psychological Well-Being”, held during the event “II CHA Week: Caring for Those Who Care”, which had 923 registrants on the Even3 platform. It is expected that these data can support public policies and strategies for the prevention and promotion of mental and occupational health of CHAs.