Working conditions and common mental disorders in prison officers in the inland region of the state of São Paulo, Brazil

Bravo, Daiane Suele; Gonçalves, Soraya Geha; Girotto, Edmarlon; González, Alberto Durán; Melanda, Francine Nesello; Rodrigues, Renne; Mesas, Arthur Eumann

doi:10.1590/1413-812320222712.10042022EN

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ARTICLE • Ciênc. saúde coletiva 27 (12) • Dec 2022 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1413-812320222712.10042022EN copy

Working conditions and common mental disorders in prison officers in the inland region of the state of São Paulo, Brazil

Authorship SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

Abstract

The prison officer profession is characterized by working in risky situations, which can harm officers’ mental health. This research aimed to analyze prison officers’ working conditions associated with Common Mental Disorders (CMD). This cross-sectional study was conducted with prison officers in four penitentiary units in the inland region of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, from January to August 2019. The Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20) tool was employed to quantify the presence of CMDs. Poisson regression verified the association between variables with robust variance and adjusted for confounding factors to estimate the prevalence ratio (PR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). The study population comprised 331 prison officers (ASP), with a 33.5% frequency of CMDs. CMDs were higher among prison officers with a worse perception of working conditions (PR: 1.13; 95%CI%: 1.03-1.24), who suffered insults (PR: 1.18; 95%CI: 1.08-1.29), psychological harassment (PR: 1.23; 95%CI: 1.11-1.36) and sexual harassment (PR: 1.20; 95%CI: 1.03-1.40) in the last 12 months. CMDs were associated with work-related variables, such as worse environmental conditions within the prison and psychological and sexual violence.

Key words:
Mental health; Prison; Work conditions; Occupational health

		Total	With a sign of CMD	PR (95%CI; p-value)
		n (%)	n (%)	PR (95%CI; p-value)
Age group (n=326)
	27-39 years	87 (26.7)	35 (40.2)	1.15 (0.91-1.45; 0.250)
	40-49 years	134 (41.1)	39 (29.1)	1.06 (0.84-1.33; 0.641)
	50-59 years	96 (29.4)	33 (34.4)	1.09 (0.87-1.39; 0.426)
	60 years and over	9 (2.8)	2 (22.2)	1.00
Ethnicity/skin color (n=329)
	Nonwhite	80 (24.3)	21 (26.3)	0.93 (0.85-1.01; 0.093)
	White	249 (75.7)	90 (36.1)	1.00
Marital status (n=329)
	Single, separated/divorced, widowed	54 (16.4)	12 (22.2)	0.89 (0.81-0.99; 0.036)
	Married, living with a partner	275 (83.6)	99 (36.0)	1.00
Schooling level (n=328)
	High school	190 (58.0)	56 (29.5)	0.93 (0.86-1.00; 0.049)
	Higher education, postgraduate	138 (42.0)	55 (39.9)	1.00
Monthly household income (n=328)
	Up to R$ 5,000	181 (55.2)	62 (34.3)	1.01 (0.94-1.09; 0.760)
	Above R$ 5,000	147 (44.8)	48 (32.7)	1.00
Self-perceived health (n=316)
	Excellent/good	189 (59.8)	38 (35.8)	1.00
	Fair/poor/very poor	127 (40.2)	68 (64.2)	1.28 (1.19-1.38; <0.001)
Physical activity (≥once/week) (n=328)
	Yes	192 (58.5)	52 (27.1)	1.00
	No	136 (41.5)	58 (42.6)	1.12 (1.04-1.21; 0.003)
Arthritis/Arthrosis/Rheumatism (n=325)
	Yes	48 (14.8)	24 (50.0)	1.15 (1.04-1.28; 0.007)
	No	277 (85.2)	84 (30.3)	1.00
Chronic pain (n=318)
	Yes	155 (48.7)	70 (45.2)	1.19 (1.11-1.29; <0.001)
	No	163 (51.3)	35 (21.5)	1.00
BMI (n=325)
	Obese	125 (38.5)	40 (32.0)	1.04 (0.93-1.17; 0.473)
	Overweight	151 (46.5)	55 (36.4)	1.08 (0.96-1.21; 0.191)
	Normal/Eutrophic	49 (15.1)	13 (26.5)	1.00
PSQI (n=245)
	Worse sleep quality	140 (57.1)	72 (51.4)	1.42 (1.32-1.52; <0.001)
	Better sleep quality	105 (42.9)	7 (6.7)	1.00

		Non-adjusted model PR (95%CI; p-value)	Adjusted model PR (95%CI; p-value)
Work sector (n=311)
	Administrative	1.00	1.00
	Operational - intermediate contact	1.06 (0.92-1.21; 0.438)	1.03 (0.89-1.18; 0.702)
	Operational - closest contact	1.11 (0.98-1.26; 0.108)	1.04 (0.91-1.18; 0.611)
Work shift (n=328)
	8 daily hours	1.00	1.00
	12 hours night shift	1.01 (0.91-1.13; 0.820)	0.98 (0.87-1.09; 0.704)
	12 hours day shift	1.11 (1.01-1.23; 0.038)	1.05 (0.94-1.17; 0.379)
Work environment conditionsa (n=319)
	Worse	1.20 (1.11-1.31; <0.001)	1.13 (1.03-1.24; 0.009)
	Better	1.00	1.00
Profession seniority (n=325)
	Up to 10 years	1.00	1.00
	Above 10 years	1.07 (0.98-1.18; 0.129)	1.08 (0.97-1.19; 0.146)
Feeling realized as ASP (n=328)
	Yes	1.00	1.00
	Partially	1.18 (1.09-1.28; <0.001)	0.98 (0.89-1.07; 0.588)
	No	1.31 (1.16-1.47; <0.001)	0.95 (0.87-1.14; 0.946)
Thought about changing professions in the last 12 months (n=313)
	Never	1.00	1.00
	Sometimes during the year	0.93 (0.85-2.02; 0.113)	1.03 (0.92-1.15; 0.585)
	Sometimes a day/week/month	1.22 (1.11-1.35; <0.001)	1.11 (0.98-1.25; 0.094)
Physical Requirements (n=309)
	Low and moderate	1.00	1.00
	High	1.12 (1.01-1.24; 0.044)	1.08 (0.98-119; 0.114)
Mental requirements (n=327)
	Low and moderate	1.00	1.00
	High	1.14 (1.05-1.24; 0.002)	1.08 (0.98-1.19; 0.137)
Substance use to stay awake or bear the load (n=321)
	Yes	1.13 (1.13-1.35; <0.001)	1.11 (0.97-1.27; 0.140)
	No	1.00	1.00
Insults or embarrassing situations (n=320)
	Yes	1.27 (1.18-1.38; <0.001)	1.18 (1.08-1.29; 0.001)
	No	1.00	1.00
Threat (n=319)
	Yes	1.18 (1.08-1.29; <0.001)	1.09 (0.98-1.21; 0.110)
	No	1.00	1.00
Moral abuse (n=317)
	Yes	1.32 (1.19-1.46; <0.001)	1.23 (1.11-1.36; <0.001)
	No	1.00	1.00
Sexual abuse (n=323)
	Yes	1.25 (0.99-1.59; 0.060)	1.20 (1.03-1.40; 0.021)
	No	1.00	1.00
Physical abuse - weapon/bodily (n=322)
	Yes	1.07 (0.94-1.21; 0.342)	0.91 (0.79-1.05; 0.193)
	No	1.00	1.00

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[1] Chief editors:

Maria Cecília de Souza Minayo, Romeu Gomes, Antônio Augusto Moura da Silva