RT Journal Article
T1 Psychological distress among Brazilian workers during the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic: a descriptive study
A1 Spröesser Alonso, Melissa
A1 Pereira Lima, Maria Cristina
A1 Dias, Adriano
A1 Camacho Vega, Juan Carlos
A1 García Iglesias, Juan Jesús
A1 Ruiz Frutos, Carlos
A1 Bernardes, João Marcos
A1 Gómez Salgado, Juan
AB Background: COVID-19 pandemic imposed drastic and abrupt changes to working environment and organization and that might have caused additional negative effects on mental health. Thus, this study aimed to quantify and assess the severity of psychological distress experienced by Brazilian essential and nonessential workers during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic.Methods: This descriptive study included 2,903 participants who answered an online questionnaire between April and May 2020. The research questionnaire was translated and culturally adapted to the Brazilian population from a questionnaire developed and validated for the Spanish population. Variables were analyzed using simple and cumulative percentage distributions and measures of central tendency and dispersion. The Wilson score interval was used to calculate confidence interval (CI) for the main outcome, psychological distress.Results: It was observed a high prevalence (72.6%) of psychological distress among the study's participants. They also presented a median risk perception score of 60 (out of a maximum of 90), and their greatest concern was transmitting the virus to family members, close contacts or patients. Furthermore, it was found a lower sense of coherence and work engagement among the participants than those observed in previous studies conducted in other countries.Conclusion: Almost three quarters of the study's participants were classified as presenting psychological distress. Thus, it is imperative to provide mental health remotely delivered interventions to workers during public health events that require prolonged social distancing measures.
PB Frontiers Media
SN 2296-2565 (electrónico)
YR 2024
FD 2024-02
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10272/23622
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10272/23622
LA eng
NO Alonso, M. S., Lima, M. C. P., Dias, A., Camacho-Vega, J. C., García-Iglesias, J. J., Ruiz-Frutos, C., Bernardes, J. M., & Gómez-Salgado, J. (2024). Psychological distress among Brazilian workers during the initial stage of the COVID-19 pandemic: a descriptive study. In Frontiers in Public Health (Vol. 12). Frontiers Media SA. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1283310
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Huelva
RD 31 may 2026