Epidemiological study of civil servants on leave due to mental disorders in a public educational institution

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the sociodemographic, occupational and morbidity characteristics of civil servants on leave due to mental and behavioral disorders (MBD) and the associations of these characteristics with early leave. Methods: Longitudinal (retrospective cohort) study carried out at the Ceará Federal Institute of Education (IFCE) with a view to identifying the epidemiological profile of civil servants who were on leave due to MBD (n=250) from 2010 to 2018 and the associations of epidemiological characteristics (sex, job category, workplace, length of service at the institution, marital status, age range and salary) with early leave through the Kaplan-Meier curves. Results: There were 684 leaves due to MBD among 250 civil servants (incidence of 4.9%), resulting in 22,409 days away from work (DAW) and financial effects of approximately R$ 6,845,220. There was an increase in the number of leaves, days away from work, and rate of incidence of civil servants on leave during the study period. The group of mood disorders (F30-F39) in ICD-10 was the main cause of leaves due to MBD (n=367; 53.6%) and DAW (13,057). The survival analysis showed earlier leaves among civil servants in the countryside, single individuals, those aged 18-39 years, and those with up to 9 years of service at the institution and belonging to economic class C. Conclusion: There was an increase in leaves, DAW and incidence of civil servants on leave due to MBD at IFCE, with a predominance of mood disorders, which generated high financial effects for the institution. There was evidence of a positive association between some sociodemographic characteristics and early leave due to MBD.