Teses e Dissertações

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Mental health among urban bus drivers

Background: Bus drivers are a large workgroup, with significant collective responsibility for transporting members of the public. The present study estimates the Minor Psychiatric Disorders (MPD) among bus drivers in Santa Maria, Southern Brazil and related risk factors. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out evaluating 214 urban bus drivers and a random sample of neighbors. Both were interviewed at home. MPD was evaluated by the SRQ-20 questionnaire. Results: MPD prevalence among bus drivers was 12.1%, and the Prevalence Ratio (PR) was 0.7 (95%CI 0.4-1.1) compared with the neighbors. Alcoholism, smoking, work shift, bus model, fumes and awkward posture were associated with MPD after controlling for confounders. Influences of urban and suburban/rural bus drivers and local where drivers had meals, in the MPD prevalence are considered Discussion: In Santa Maria bus drivers do not show increased risk of MPD when compared to a population living in the same neighborhood. However, exposure to awkward postures and fumes, tipical of bus drivers, were found associated with mental morbidity in this group.

Work and Behavioral Problems in Children and Adolescents

Objectives: to evaluate the association between child and adolescent labor and increases in the prevalence of behavioral problems (BP). Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional study of 3,139 children and adolescents from poor areas of the city of Pelotas, southern Brazil. We employed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) for estimating BP. We performed multivariable analysis using Poisson’s regression for confounder control. Results: the proportion of workers was 13.8% (7.3% among children and 20.7% among adolescents). Prevalence of BP among workers and prevalence ratios (PR) were 21.4% (PR=1.3; CI 0.9-1.9) among children and 9.5% (PR=0.6 CI 0.4-1.0) among adolescents. Considering workers only, the risk of BP was 2.7 times greater (CI 1.4-5.1) among children when compared to adolescents. Working in domestic services among children and beginning to work at an early age among adolescents were associated with BP. Conclusions: Our results reinforce the need for respecting the minimum age for admission to employment established by ILO Convention 138 and by Brazilian legislation and contribute to the discussion about the occupations that should be considered as hazardous child labor. Key Words: Child Labor, behavioral problems, Poisson regression, prevalence

Problemas psiquiátricos menores em trabalhadores: revisão sistemática dos estudos epidemiológicos no Brasil 1990-2004.

O objetivo do estudo foi descrever as prevalências de problemas psiquiátricos menores encontradas em estudos epidemiológicos de saúde do trabalhador no Brasil utilizando o Self Reporting Questionnaire como critério diagnóstico. Foi realizada pesquisa bibliográfica incluindo as bases de dados da LILACS e MEDLINE (1990-2004), resultando em 22 artigos. São apresentadas as prevalências e os fatores de risco associados a problemas psiquiátricos menores nas diversas categorias estudadas. Discute-se a grande variedade nos pontos de corte utilizados para o estabelecimento da morbidade e questões referentes ao método epidemiológico dos estudos realizados. Conclui-se que a disponibilidade deste instrumento de screening tem favorecido o crescimento do número de estudos epidemiológicos em saúde mental dos trabalhadores no Brasil, mas que ainda é necessário mais atenção aos aspectos metodológicos nos estudos.Descritores: saúde mental, saúde do trabalhador, epidemiologia, SRQ.