Common mental disorders in Primary Health Care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic period: a cross-sectional study in the Northern health macro-region of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, 2021

OBJECTIVE: to analyze the prevalence of symptoms of common mental disorders (CMDs) in Primary Health Care professionals between August-October/2021. METHODS: this was a cross-sectional study conducted with health professionals in the Northern health macro-region of Minas Gerais state; snowball sampling was used; the dependent variable, CMDs, was evaluated using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ-20); Poisson regression was used to perform the statistical analysis. RESULTS: a total of 702 health professionals took part in the study; the prevalence of CDMs was 43.2%. It was higher in those with previous [prevalence ratios (PR) = 2.42; 95%CI 1.43;4.08] and current (PR = 1.54; 95%CI 1.25;1.89) symptoms of mental disorders, overwork during the pandemic (PR = 1.42; 95%CI 1.16;1.73), previous symptoms of anxiety (PR = 1.27; 95%CI 1.01;1.61), depression (PR = 1.27; 95%CI 1.06;1.52) and other mental disorders (PR = 1.20; 95%CI 1.01;1.43). CONCLUSION: there was an association between CDMs and presenting previous and current symptoms of mental disorders and work overload during the covid-19 pandemic.