Depressive and anxiety symptoms among housemaids

Housemaid, the most common occupation in the female labor force in Brazil, is known to be targeted by a generalized racial and job discrimination, which can generate mental suffering such as depressive and anxiety symptoms. In this cross-sectional study, the association between being a maid and having depressive and anxiety symptoms was evaluated.

Data for this study was taken from a former survey carried out in a random sample of 470 families living in a poor area of the city of Salvador, capital of the state of Bahia, Northeast Brazil. The study population comprised all women between the ages of 14 and 69, who reported having a paid occupation (n = 335). Data was collected by trained interviewers, using questionnaires. Psychological symptoms were identified using the Questionnaire for Psychiatric Morbidity among Adults, (QMPA), from which only those related to depression and anxiety (QMPA-SAD) were analyzed.

Logistic regression showed that being a housemaid was positively associated with "sadness/tiredness" (adjusted prevalence ratio, PR(adj) = 1.64; 95% confidence interval, CI: 1.17-2.28), "poor concentration" (PR(adj) = 1.81; 95% CI: 1.13-2.90), "palpitations" (PR(adj) = 2.22; 95% CI: 1.28-3.84), and "aggressive behavior" (PR(aj) = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.01-2.46).

Although cross-sectional designs are limited by causal inference, these results are in accordance with those obtained in qualitative studies. Advances in the Brazilian labor legislation with respect to domestic service may help to reduce social discrimination and contribute towards minimizing a possible mental burden resulting from this occupation.